


You didn't see anything....

by hey_you_with_the_face



Series: you didn't see verse [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Nanny, Businessman Castiel, Dad Castiel, Kid Fic, M/M, Nanny Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-05-18 15:21:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 52,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5933140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hey_you_with_the_face/pseuds/hey_you_with_the_face
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Single-dad Castiel can't juggle the care of his daughter, the upkeep of his house and the demands of his job anymore.<br/>Dean needs to find another nanny gig after the family he works for moves away.</p><p>We all know where this is going so why bother trying to be mysterious....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got bored today and wanted to stretch my writing muscles on something new. I've never written fanfiction before but I have read my share (ok, more than my share, maybe a whole crowd's share) and I've always liked the idea of single-dad Cas and nanny Dean, hopefully I can do the fandom justice.  
> I know nothing about hiring nannies or being a nanny but I don't think I got anything too wrong, give me a shout if I did.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Ring...Ring...Ring!

Beep!

Ring!

The smoke alarm was going off again, supper was currently scorching on the stove and his work phone was ringing for the fiftieth time. All of these were indicators of one simple fact: Castiel Novak was officially at the end of his rope.

 

When his nanny/housekeeper had taken him aside about a month ago and informed him that she was putting in her two weeks since she was moving out of state with her new husband and that he would need to look into finding someone to take her position, the widower had thought finding another nanny for his four year old daughter Claire would be easy. Call up a few agencies, meet a couple candidates and he would have another person to care for his little girl and help keep the house in order while he was busy at work. True it would be difficult to truly replace Madison, Claire seemed to adore her and the young woman was extremely well organized when it came to keeping the house in order, but he was confident he could find a replacement without too much difficulty.

The universe had to be rolling on the floor laughing at how wrong he had been.

Castiel was starting to believe it was impossible to find another nanny who was even halfway as competent as Madison had been. All of the highly recommended, and quite honestly expensive, agencies that he had called had informed him that there was a two-month minimum wait to get an interview with the agency since most of their staff were currently employed and they would put him on a list. He obviously couldn’t wait that long to find someone, he only had another week before Madison left, so he tried some other, less exclusive agencies.

What a mistake that had been.

The first woman they had sent over, a brunette named Becky, was extremely hyperactive and the interview was extremely uncomfortable. She kept asking a constant stream of questions about his work, personal life and, after it had slipped that he was bisexual, his love life or lack thereof as it were. 

Claire seemed to find her amusing in the few minutes she saw her as Castiel showed the woman out of the house while his neighbor, who had kindly agreed to watch the little girl during his meeting with the potential nanny, was bringing her home.

“She acted like me after I eat too much sugar, she’s funny.” she giggled as he tucked her into bed that night.

Castiel hadn’t found the woman as amusing and highly doubted she was responsible enough to watch his daughter.

Strike one on the nanny front.

The next interview was much shorter than the first. The woman, Ruby, was much calmer but she seemed a bit too laid back, lazy even. When he asked what her usual methods of entertaining her young charges were she answered, “That’s what T.V. is for.”

She also didn’t seem to like the fact she would be required to tidy the house, protesting that her job was being a nanny not his housekeeper and left shortly after that in a huff.

Strike two.

The last woman he interviewed was an attractive blonde name Lilly. At first he thought he had finally found the right person. She was soft spoken, had a good reputation with her previous clients and appeared to be a lovely person but when he introduced her to Claire, his daughter immediately proclaimed that “this lady is creepy” and it went downhill from there. 

It turned out that Lilly had quite the temper when she was offended and soon Castiel found himself consoling his daughter while shouting at the woman to get out of his house. She responded by calling his daughter a spoiled brat. He would definitely be reporting her to the agency for some sort of reprimand

Strike three and Castiel was out of time.

 

The next two weeks had passed in a blur for the single dad. He had no idea how the single parents on T.V. made it look so easy. Taking care of a small child and a home was hard enough but trying to work at the same time made it seem impossible. 

Luckily his job allowed him to work from home, being the finance manager at a large pharmaceutical company meant he could feasibly do most of his job at the apartment instead of his office for quite some time. He had explained his situation to his superiors and they had agreed he could work remotely but with the caveat that this situation could not become permanent. 

Castiel was currently trying to finish an important spreadsheet, one that was supposed to be submitted earlier that morning but hadn’t been due to a breakfast disaster.

 

Claire had decided to make breakfast for him this morning because she had seen how stressed he has been for the last couple weeks. He had bolted upright in bed to the sound of the smoke alarm and ran for Claire’s room. When he hadn’t found his daughter in her bed he panicked and ran for the living room, that’s when he noticed the smoke in the kitchen. He found his little munchkin standing on a chair by the smoking toaster trying force the lever up.

“Claire! What do you think you’re doing!?” he demanded reaching over her head to unplug the toaster, after which he started waving a dish rag by the smoke alarm to try and disperse the smoke and smell of burnt toast.

The little girl sniffed and looked up at him with teary blue eyes in her princess jammies and, despite his fear induced anger, he felt guilty almost immediately.

“I just wanted to make breakfast for you like the kids on T.V. do for their parents. It makes them happy. I didn’t want to make you mad.” Claire mumbled

Yeah, Castiel definitely felt the guilt. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair and crouched down to talk to his little girl. 

“I’m not mad sweetie,” he said as he gave her a hug, “I was just scared when I heard the smoke alarm go off and I couldn’t find you. I’m sorry I yelled but you know you aren’t supposed to be using anything in the kitchen on your own.”

“I know but I thought I was big enough now, I’m four now” she said, a small amount of pride leaking into her voice when informing him how old she was.

“Yes, you are getting to be a big girl” Castiel chuckled, “But you’re still too young to make your own breakfast. Now how about I clean up this mess and we have some pancakes?”

This perked Claire right up and got her to smiling again. She went to go and get the mixing bowl out of the cabinets while he began clearing up the counter and trying to pry the burnt remains of what would have been “breakfast” out of the toaster. 

 

The rest of the day had been hectic. He had gone to the grocery store which is always adventure when a child is involved, scrubbed down the kitchen to remove the last traces of Claire’s disastrous breakfast and accomplished a whole manner of other things that needed done throughout the day none of which included his work that was due to be submitted.  
It was just approaching midnight when he finally hit “send” and submitted his report to his boss. Now that he was done he could finally go to bed but as he was getting out of his desk chair his phone started to vibrate. Groaning, he checked the number and lo and behold, it was his boss.

“Hello Naomi” he sighed knowing what this was about, “How can I help you?”

“You can help me by explaining why this report was submitted at midnight instead of at seven this morning like it was supposed to be” Naomi said briskly, her tone brimming with disapproval.

Castiel sighed and ran a hand over his stubbly cheek, he hadn’t had time to shave this morning with all the chaos. “It’s been a very busy day, I was going to put the finishing touches on it this morning and submit it but I never got the chance” he wearily explained.

“When we allowed you to start working from home there were two conditions, can you remind me what those two conditions were, Castiel?” she asked icily.

“It would not be a permanent situation and my work could not suffer” he recited dutifully. “And I would like to point out that my work hasn’t suffered that badly, this is the first time I’ve completely missed a deadline.” He was a bit pissed off that she was making such a big deal over one delayed report and being exhausted wasn’t helping his temper. So his work is submitted a little late, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal since he knows they ask for the reports earlier than they actually need them.

“Be that as it may, you need to get your affairs in order and get back to work here in the office. It’s been three weeks, that should be plenty of time to find someone to watch your child” she replied flippantly.

 _She’s obviously never had to actually find a suitable nanny_ , Castiel thought to himself bitterly.

He ran a hand through his hair, tugging it in frustration. “Fine, I will try my best to have a nanny by the end of the month. Does that work for you?”

There was a beat of silence and then Naomi sighed, “Well if that’s the best you can do, then fine, I’ll expect you back here by the first of the month or you can start looking for other employment. Good evening Castiel.”

“Good…” he started to say as the phone clicked, ending the conversation, “riddance to you.” Castiel murmured under his breath to no one in particular. He set his phone down, leaned against his desk and looked up at the ceiling.

Great, now he either had to find a nanny or a new job in two weeks.


	2. Chapter 2

“Dean, I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this but we’re moving out of state next week.”

If he hadn’t already been sitting down, now his employer’s insistence that he have a seat was making more sense, he would have fallen on his ass in shock. He was going to lose his job in one week.

“Wh..When did this happen? You guys are just up and leaving for a whole different state?” he stammered. Dean needed this job and not only that, he loved working for this family.

Dean had worked for the Braedens for almost three years now as a nanny to their son Ben. It wasn’t that bad of a job, he already had a knack for taking care of kids having helped take care of his younger brother Sammy, and since he worked for a high-end nanny agency, he made good money doing it even if it was only during the hours Ben wasn’t in school. Lisa ran her own fitness company and her husband Matt was a surgeon so they needed help with their son. Logically he knew he couldn’t work for this family forever, Ben was going to be old enough to take care of himself someday, so he knew this situation wasn't permanent but he hadn’t expected this. 

“I know this is sudden but Matt got a new position as head surgeon at a prestigious hospital and the hospital is going to pay for us to move since it’s on such short notice.” Lisa said, looking at her soon to be former nanny earnestly. Dean could tell she was feeling guilty about all of this but that didn’t stop him from feeling like the ground was falling out from under him. 

“And I’m happy for you guys, this is great news, I’m just in shock is all.” Dean reassured her as he patted her arm, finally getting his own emotions under control, “Does Ben know yet?” 

Lisa sighed and nodded. “Yes and he wasn’t happy about it. He said that he didn’t want to change schools and that all his friends are here. I told him he could find new friends but he doesn’t believe me.”

“Moving can be rough on a kid especially if they don’t have time to adjust to the idea,” Lisa flinched a bit at this statement from Dean, “But I’m not trying to make you feel any more guilty.” he hurriedly added. “Just saying that I can see where he is coming from, my family moved around a lot when I was younger is all.”  
This seemed to perk Lisa up a bit. “Would you talk to him Dean? Explain that moving isn’t going to be the end of his life, please?” she asked imploringly.

He hesitated for a minute, not sure if he wanted to get into the middle of this but after seeing Lisa’s face, caved.

“Yeah, I guess I can try and talk him around during the week.” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. It would probably take all week too, it took time to really adjust to the idea of leaving everyone you know behind and if Dean could help, well then he would do his damnedest to help.

“Oh, thank you Dean!” Lisa reached out and grabbed his hand, “I know this probably doesn’t really help but you have been the best nanny we have ever had. You’ve always done so well with Ben and with the reference we’re going to give you, I can guarantee you’ll have an even better job when we’re gone.” 

She was right, that really didn’t make anything better but it was nice to know he could add another shining reference to his resume at the agency. Maybe he would be okay.

 

He wasn’t going to be okay.

The last week had been horrible. Dean hadn’t realized how attached he had gotten to Ben and his family. Every time he whipped up a snack for the kid after school or picked up the trail of books, shoes and other school related items in the front hall, he found himself thinking how this was almost the last time he would do this. 

Talking to Ben hadn’t made this any better but at least he was able to make the kid feel better. Dean pointed out that there was always Facebook and Skype so moving away didn’t mean never talking to his friends again and that he was going to make new friends.

“I bet Mom and Dad told you to tell me that.” Ben grumbled while they played a little bit of Mario Kart one afternoon after school. Most of the house was boxed up around them, hammering home the fact that three days from now, neither of them would be here.

Dean paused the game, causing the boy to protest, and turned to look at him.

“Listen Ben, I know you don’t want to believe anything an adult says but trust me, moving is not the end of everything. If it was I wouldn’t be here now, my family moved a lot when I was a kid and I can tell you everything works out fine in the end.” he said patting the kid on the shoulder reassuringly.

This caused the kid to peer at him shrewdly, as if he thought his nanny would be part of some sort of parent conspiracy, but then he nodded.  
“I guess if you had to move as a kid, you would tell me if it was going to suck. You’re pretty cool for an adult so I think I can trust you.” Ben replied as he shoved Dean in the shoulder jokingly, “Now can I get back to beating you at Mario Kart, this will be one of the last times I get to show you how to really play this.”

Dean laughed and hit the resume button, “Yeah, in your dreams kid, get ready to eat my dust.”

 

Four days later, after a slightly teary good-bye to the Braedens the day before, Dean headed into the Guardian Angels Nanny Agency building. He needed to find a new job.

He rode the elevator up to the agency’s floor and headed to the assignment office.

Charlie was at the desk, staring at her computer screen with a look of great concentration. When he had first answered an ad for nannies that the agency had in the paper, the vibrant red-head was the first person he had talked to and he knew right away they would get along well. 

“World of Warcraft at work again?” Dean asked as he leaned over the desk to take a peek at her screen. His friend jumped and turned to glare at him.

“Dammit Winchester!” She smacked him in the arm. “You’re going to give a girl a heart attack, sneaking up on her like that.” She smacked him in the arm again.

Dean laughed, “Well you shouldn’t be playing online games when you're at work besides the elevator dinged when I got out, you had to have heard that.”

“I was in a very intense battle but never mind, are you here for a new assignment?” Charlie asked, “I heard about the Braedens, I know you liked working for them.” She gave him a look that showed she knew he was bummed out.

“Yeah, do you have anything good for me?” He was actually a bit worried now that he was here. It was always a little difficult being a male nanny, some families just assumed he was some sort of pervert because he was a nanny even though he definitely was not and despite the extremely extensive background checks that Charlie performed on all the employees.

Charlie minimized her game and logged into the database and started typing rapidly on her keyboard. 

“Well, there are a ton of people on the wait-list but unfortunately a lot of them have requested female nannies,” she said apologetically.

Dean rolled his eyes, like that was news to him. “But there are some people who won’t mind a guy nanny?” he asked hopefully.

His friend handed him a printout showing the list of potential families, “Of course there are but there is this one person I think I might assign to you first.” She pointed at a name on the bottom. “He just got on the wait-list but I could accidentally knock him up higher on the list.”

That was a bit odd, Charlie never bumped anyone up the list.

“Why would you help this guy out, do you know him or something?” he asked curiously. 

She looked around quickly, probably to make sure no one from upper management was listening. They wouldn’t take too kindly to her messing with the wait-list.

“I got a call from this guy a few days ago, poor guy was going out of his mind. Apparently he’s a single dad and has been trying for weeks to find a nanny for his little girl.” she said lowly, leaning close to Dean like there was a conspiracy going on.

“So, that describes everyone on that list, what makes this guy worthy of your intervention?” he interrupted her.

“Apparently,” Charlie continued with a look that demanded silence,“This guy was given a two week deadline by his dickbag boss to either find a nanny and come back to work or find another job, a deadline that expires in three days.”

Wow that was a bit harsh. Two weeks wasn’t very long to find quality help.

Charlie saw his surprised look, “Oh wait there’s more, this poor sap had tried us before the deadline was enforced but when he was put on the wait-list he tried a cheaper agency, one that had him interview people in _his own home_.”

“Shit, that’s never a good idea, especially with the weirdos that those agencies hire.” Dean responded knowingly. 

Other agencies weren’t near as picky with their hires as Guardian Angel was and their background checks were way more intensive. Dean shuddered to think what types of people Charlie’s guy had in his house. No way would he have ever done that knowing what he knows.

“That’s what I thought, clearly the dude is desperate. He seemed like such a nice guy and the way he talked about his daughter, well….I figured I could help him out. Plus now I can help you out at the same time, he doesn’t have a preference on nanny gender and with your references, he’ll probably hire you right on the spot.” 

Dean took another look at the list. He recognized most of the names on the list and unfortunately for him, a lot of them were synonymous with horrible experiences. They were frequent fliers who couldn’t hold on to a nanny because either the kids were little monsters or the parents were even bigger monsters, there was a reason they were constantly on the wait-list looking for another poor sap to work for them. Maybe Charlie was right and this guy would turn out to be okay.

He sighed and looked at Charlie who started to smile, she knew what he had decided.

“Well,” she said reaching for the phone, “I guess I’ll give Mr. Castiel Novak a call and let him know we found him a nanny.”


	3. Chapter 3

Castiel was ecstatic when he finally hung up the phone. Guardian Angel Nanny Agency had called him back to let him know they had an opening and he could come and meet his potential nanny that afternoon. The woman on the phone assured him that the nanny in question was one of their best and was looking for a new assignment. When he asked if it would be possible to bring Claire along to meet the person who might be caring for her in the near future, she said that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Parents bring their children to the interviews all the time. They want to see how their children react to the nannies, we’re very used to it” she said cheerily. She then proceeded to give him a time to come over to the agency as well as the room number for where the meeting would be.

He glanced at the clock in the kitchen and saw he had a little over an hour to get himself and Claire around and into the city. Living in the suburbs had it’s advantages but it did take longer to get there so he really needed to get a move on.

“Claire!” he called up the stairs “We need to get around to go out, we have an appointment to meet your new nanny. Please get your sneakers and coat on.”

Luckily they had gone to the park earlier that morning so they both weren’t still in their pajamas like they would usually be. It’s not like they had to go somewhere every day so some days he didn’t think it was worth it to get out of his own pajamas so why should he make Claire get out of her comfy clothes?

“I’m ready to go Daddy!” his little girl shouted from the foyer. She was wearing a pair of capri pants, a t-shirt that, surprisingly, didn’t have any food or stains on it and her sneakers, which were on backwards. Smiling, he shook his head and helped her swap them to the right feet and put her jacket on.

Once Claire was ready to go, Castiel looked at his own attire critically before putting on his coat. He wished he had more time to get around. Typically for something like this he would want to at least wear a decent button down shirt but there wasn’t time to change so the jeans and plain grey t-shirt he was wearing would have to do.

“Alrighty little miss, let’s go meet the nanny.” he said as he threw on his own jacket and grabbed his keys.

 

Dean hurried home after his conversation with Charlie. She had called Mr. Novak and scheduled for the man and his daughter to come meet him at the agency in an hour meaning he had less than an hour to run to his apartment and change. Meeting a potential employer in ratty jeans and a t-shirt that had seen better days was definitely a no-no.

It took him fifteen minutes to get home, only ten minutes to grab a light blue button down, a pair of dark grey slacks and some decent shoes and another fifteen to get back to the agency building leaving him with a few minutes to spare before the meeting. So of course he used this time to bug the hell out of Charlie. 

“Dean Winchester, if you click that staple puller one more time I will shove it somewhere extremely unpleasant.” she growled, causing him to drop the offending office implement on to her desk. Charlie Bradbury’s threats were not to be taken lightly. 

“I’m sorry Charlie but I’m nervous. I haven’t had to do one of these interviews in years so sue me for being jittery.” Dean grumped back at her. He really did need to relax, it wouldn’t look good if he showed up to meet this Novak guy all sweaty and twitchy.

The red-head gave him a sympathetic look. “I understand but I’ve told you already, you are a shoe in for this job and I bet you a ride the starship Enterprise that the guy will be a decent employer.” she said soothingly, “Now you only have two minutes until this guy shows up, I suggest you head over to the conference room and I’ll send them in when they arrive.”

She made a shooing motion and pointed towards the hall. Dean rose huffily off of the sofa in the lobby and made his way to the conference room.

 

As the elevator doors opened onto the floor that housed the nanny agency, Castiel was struck with a sense of apprehension and paused right outside the doors. 

_What if this nanny was as inappropriate as the others?_  
_What if Claire didn’t like this person at all?_  
_Or worse what if they were competent and Claire liked them but they decide they didn’t want to work for them?_

Claire must have sensed his tension and tugged on his hand.  
“Come on, Daddy. We have to been on time or we won’t make a good expression.” she insisted

“Impression, sweetie and you are very right.” Castiel said fondly. He tried to set a good example for his little girl and being late to a meeting was just bad manners in his opinion.

They walked over to what looked like the reception desk where a red-headed woman was focused on a computer monitor. She didn’t even look at them when they got to the desk so he politely cleared his throat causing her to jump.

“Holy cow, I am so sorry. I was really into my...spreadsheet and didn’t hear the elevator ding.” she exclaimed excitedly, “Are you Mr. Novak?”

Smiling at her to let her know he was not offended, he offered his hand. “Yes, I am Castiel Novak, this is my daughter, Claire” he said, nodding down at Claire who waved in greeting, “And I’m guessing that you are the one I talked to on the phone earlier?”

“That would be me, my name is Charlie” the woman replied as she shook his hand, “Now I know you’re probably anxious to meet the potential nanny so I’ll take you back. Now do you want to take Claire in with you right away or would you like to wait until you know if you might want to hire them? We have space over there with toys and books she can play with while she waits if that’s something you want to do.” She waved a hand over to a corner of the office that had several bookcases, toy boxes and other things for kids.

Taking a minute to think, Castiel decided he wanted to meet this nanny first. This probably was just a reaction to the horrible interview candidates from before which most likely wouldn’t be repeated here but better safe than sorry. Charlie seemed like a very nice person so he figured his daughter would be alright with her for a few minutes.

“Yes, I think that’s what we’ll do.” he said to the woman and turned to Claire, “Sweetie, can you stay here with Charlie for a few minutes and play while I talk to the new nanny for a bit?”

Claire beamed at him and with a brief “Okie dokie Daddy”, ran over to the children’s area and immediately started playing with some Legos.

Charlie chuckled at the little girl’s enthusiasm. “Well I guess that is settled, Mr. Novak if you just head back that hallway, the room you’re looking for is the first on the right. Here is the information packet for the nanny you’re meeting”. She handed him an official looking folder which he took with him as he headed down the hallway.

 

Dean had just been considering spinning in the fancy conference room chair he was in to alleviate the boredom and nerves when the door opened and wow, that wasn’t what he was expecting.

Castiel Novak was a very attractive man.  
_Dean, pull yourself together. This could be your new boss_ , he reprimanded himself. Just because the other man looked like an advertisement for Levi’s jeans, with his messy hair black hair, scruffy jaw and amazingly blue eyes, did not mean that he couldn’t act like the professional he was. He extended his hand and and put on his best professional smile.

“Hi, my name is Dean Winchester. I’m guessing you’re Castiel Novak?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I feel bad for cutting this off here but the chapter seemed to be getting unwieldy and it seemed like a nice place to stop. I've already got a big chunk of the next chapter together so it'll probably be up later today. I've discovered that writing this stuff is addictive. (Seriously it's like crack or eating potato chips, I swear)


	4. Chapter 4

Castiel was shaking hands with an Adonis and he wasn’t exactly sure how it happened.

He had opened the conference room door expecting an early twenty-something woman, how stereotypical of him he knew, and instead was met with a man in his late twenties. A man who just happened to be gorgeous. 

The man, Dean, he learned when the other man offered his hand and gave him a dazzling smile was just slightly taller than himself and a bit broader. Not what he had expected from the best the agency had. He had short dirty blonde hair and a pair of engaging emerald eyes. Castiel was so shocked he almost missed his cue to start talking.

“Oh...yes, that’s me.” he said, releasing the nanny’s hand, “I must admit Dean, you are not what I was expecting.” He saw a something flicker across the other man’s face, making him look at bit worried. “I don’t mean that in a bad way,” he continued quickly, “It’s just all of the nannies I’ve met so far have been women. I’m aware that male nannies are just as capable as their female counterparts. I believe one of my coworkers employs a male nanny and she has nothing but good things to say about him.”

This seemed to cause Dean to relax a bit. Castiel was hit with the realization that being a male nanny probably wasn’t the easiest thing in the world. There were probably a lot of parents who wouldn’t want a man taking care of their children. 

 

“Yeah, I know. I’ve had plenty of parents pass me by because they are worried I’m some sort of pervert but that’s just the hazard of being a man in this business.” Dean said, feeling a bit more comfortable now that he knew the gender issue wouldn’t affect his chances at getting the job. Time to get this meeting started then, he gestured towards the conference table.  
“Should we sit down and start the interview?” he said as he returned to the chair he had previously been sitting in.

This seemed to jog the other man out of his slight shock and Mr. Novak took the chair opposite him and placed a folder on the table. It was the copy of his company resume that Charlie gave to all potential clients.

“I see you have a copy of my file Mr. Novak, I take it you’ve had a chance to take a look at it?” Dean asked. He wasn’t really worried about the man having his file, there were plenty of references from happy families in there so it could only be helpful.

Mr. Novak looked confusedly at him for a minute before he looked down in front of him and almost seemed surprised to see the folder there, like he had forgotten it was there.

“Oh...yes, I do have a copy of it but I haven’t really looked at it yet, Mr. Winchester. I wanted to chat with you first to get a feeling of your personality if you don’t mind,” he said kindly, seeming to get back into his stride after the rough introduction. “And please, call me Cas” he continued with a stunning smile, “Mr. Novak makes me feel old and usually when I’m being called Castiel, I’m in trouble for something at work.”

Dean chuckled, he had a feeling he was going to like this guy and not just because the man’s voice was warm and gravelly in the best of ways.

“Yeah, I can understand that, being called Mr. Winchester makes me feel like my dad, you can call me Dean.” he replied.

 

Now that the slight awkwardness from the first meeting had subsided, Castiel focused on the task at hand. Once he was able to absorb the fact that the man seated across from him looked like a model straight out of a magazine, he was able to notice that the man was also very tidy and presentable. Hopefully this sense of organization and cleanliness extended to other aspects like housekeeping.

“Well, Dean, I would like to know how you feel about performing basic chores around the house in addition to taking care of my daughter? From what I’ve learned from past interviews with nannies, some find that it is far beneath them but this is something that working for me would require.” Castiel said, trying to make sure he didn’t come across as a upper-class douche-nozzle that he really wasn’t. Madison had never had a problem with housekeeping but he was starting to suspect maybe she was the exception.

Dean smiled and waved a hand carelessly in the air.  
“That’s no problem for me.” he answered nonchalantly, “I like to have a clean place so I probably would have picked up around house without you even asking. I’ve never thought it wasn’t my job. I also don’t mind cooking meals, doing laundry, or other stuff like that as long as it doesn’t distract me from watching the kids I’m responsible for.”

This caused a wave of relief to crash over Castiel. He had been very worried that the housekeeping would be deal breaker but he knew he had to ask. The house needed a lot more upkeep than one person could provide, something he didn’t realize until Madison had left.

“That’s great, I was afraid you would walk out on the interview in a huff like one of the potential nannies did before. She wasn’t happy about having extra work.” he replied happily. “So now that that question is out of the way, what age range are you used to working with when it comes to children? My daughter is only four.”

“I’ve watched all kinds of age groups, from babies to toddlers and some school-age kids. My last family actually was a school-age boy, I was with them for three years but the family had to move unexpectedly for the father’s job so here I am.” Dean smiled confidently as he gave his credentials. It seemed like he really enjoyed his job, another plus. Castiel didn’t want someone who was just punching a clock to be responsible for his little girl and Dean seemed like a very good candidate.

Over the next twenty minutes, Castiel asked all sorts of questions ranging from what Dean’s approach to discipline was (he used used a combination of time-outs for misbehavior and a reward system to encourage good habits) to how he planned to keep Claire occupied during the day (he said he couldn’t be sure without meeting her but in his experience, letting the child come up with the activities was always a good bet). Dean asked a few questions about what Claire liked and disliked, showing that he actually took an interest in the children he cared for. The dad was definitely liking what he was hearing. He wondered if the nanny would consider starting right away.

 

Dean could tell that Mr. Novak, Cas he reminded himself, was a pretty good dad. The man asked almost three times the questions most parents asked. Usually they just glanced at his file, asked maybe one or two questions and then made a decision. It was nice to know that there were some parents who actually seemed to care about their children.

“I think that this is going to work out nicely. Now, I’ve brought Claire along with me, I was hoping to introduce her to you and see what she thinks before I make a decision.” Cas said, his tone and body language making it look like a huge weight was partially lifted off his shoulder. That made sense though, Charlie did say the guy was working under a deadline. 

The nanny nodded understandingly, “Yeah, that is perfectly reasonable. It makes sense to make sure her and me would get along. After all, we’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

Cas smiled and stood up from the table. His shirt had ridden up a bit giving Dean a bit of show before he pulled down his t-shirt with a quick, “Excuse me”. Dean ducked his head, trying to hide the fact he had been staring and got out of his chair. They both headed for the door.

“She’s out front with Ms. Bradbury playing in the in the children’s area. I wanted to meet you first so see if hiring was something that might happen. Not to offend you but I’ve had some bad nanny interview experiences.” he explained as the walked down the hall.

Dean chuckled, “Oh she’s in good hands then, kids love Charlie, probably because she’s a big kid herself.” He didn’t comment on the bad experiences since he technically wasn’t supposed to know that Cas had been interviewing other nannies from other agencies.

They entered the lobby and a little blonde girl immediately flew over and grabbed Cas’ legs.

“Daddy, can Charlie be my new nanny? She’s funny and she helped me build a spaceship!” the little girl exclaimed in a rush, tugging on her dad’s low slung jeans. Dean hid his smile behind his hand, the kid was pretty adorable and her dad was even more attractive when he was trying not to blush. The poor guy probably thought Dean would be insulted by Claire’s preference to his coworker but he wasn’t. He had already told him kids were drawn to the lively red-head.

 

Castiel reached down to stop Claire from tugging on his pant leg, he hadn’t worn a belt and he didn’t need her pulling down his jeans in front of the attractive nanny. That would make this situation more awkward. He could feel himself start to blush and tried not to let it get worse. It was already bad enough Claire was asking for someone else to be her nanny, right in front of the actual nanny he hoped to hire but adding an accidental underwear flashing to the situation would be a disaster.

“Sweetie, I’m sure Charlie would be a perfectly nice nanny but we’re here to meet Dean.” he said and pointed to the man standing next to him. Dean seemed amused by the whole situation which was a relief to the dad. It looked like he wouldn’t have to apologize for his daughter’s behavior. Dean crouched down and extended his hand to Claire.

“Hello there Claire, my name is Dean. You’re dad has told me so much about you.” the nanny said with a winning smile.

Claire reached out and shook his hand without letting go of her father’s pant leg with her other hand. “Hi Mr. Dean! Daddy says you’re gonna be my new nanny, do you like playing tea party? Madison always played tea party with me.” she babbled excitedly.

Castiel breathed an internal sigh of relief. Claire hadn’t been this open with any of the other nannies. He had had a feeling she would like Dean, the man had an open-ness to him that made him very likable. He just hoped that the nanny was ready for the ball of energy that Claire could be when she was truly comfortable with someone.

Dean chuckled and nodded. “I happen to enjoy tea parties very much so I think we’ll get along just fine. So you wouldn’t mind if I was your nanny instead of Charlie?” he asked gently.

His daughter paused and seemed to think hard for a moment, her little face scrunched up in concentration and scrutinizing the man in front of her.

“Hmm...I guess I won’t mind as long as you play tea party.” Claire said seriously. “Maybe I could show you how to build a spaceship like Charlie showed me and we could have a tea party there!” she exclaimed after a beat of silence.

Castiel could see this had the potential to turn into very long conversation on Claire’s part and, since he still needed to actually hire Dean, he suggested she go wait by her spaceship and he would come get her in a few minutes. She immediately disappeared into the children’s section where a waiting Charlie was trying to contain her amusement at his little girl’s antics.

 

After Cas sent Claire back to Charlie, he turned to back to Dean.

“So I guess we can say that Claire is a Dean fan as well as a Charlie fan, do you think you can handle that level of energy on a daily basis?” he said jokingly.

Dean was very sure he could handle it. The kid was a little ball of sunshine and just wanted to play tea party, he could handle that. It would be almost a complete switch going from a pre-teen boy to a preschool girl but he was very adaptable when it came to his job.

“I think I can handle it, it’s always good to have someone who can keep me on my toes and I suspect little Claire is up to the job.” he replied with a grin, “What are my hours and when do you want me to start?”

“Well I know you said your last family only had you working before and after school so I hope you won’t mind working from eight to six.” Cas said hesitantly, like he expected Dean to bolt.

Granted it would be a drastic change but Dean wasn’t going to argue with the money. He had been comfortable working for the Braedens but now he could have some extra money for some of the things he’s been wanting, like saving money for an actual house, not some tiny apartment.

“That works for me, I’m sure I’ll adjust quickly.” he reassured the man.

“Good, as for when you start, I was hoping you would start tomorrow if at all possible. I have a few days before I have to return to work but I thought you and Claire could get some time to get to know each other while I get caught up on my work,” Cas explained, “Also this way, if you have any questions, I’ll just be in my home office.”

That did sound like a good idea, it would be easier to ease into an all-day nanny gig again when the parent was there to give advice.

“That would work fine for me.” Dean said as he offered his hand to his new employer. His new, super attractive, obviously straight employer. He could do this, he was a professional after all.

 

Castiel was so relieved, it felt like an entire herd of elephants had been taken off of his chest. He had found an responsible competent person to help take care of Claire and to help with the upkeep of the house, and with three days to spare. The universe had decided to be nice today. 

_Maybe even a little extra nice_ , piped up a small part of his brain. _Claire gets a nanny and you get a bit of eye candy, Dean is extremely easy on the eyes, with that strong jaw line, those green eyes, those big arms and that tight ass..._

Oh boy, maybe he wasn’t as home free as he thought.


	5. Chapter 5

To help Dean celebrate his new job, Charlie declared that they were going out for dinner at the diner around the corner, her treat; they made the best sandwiches ever there according to Dean. Normally they would go out and grab some drinks to commemorate accomplishments at work but considering the fact that Dean needed to be to work, which involved watching a small child, at eight the next morning, they decided to hold off on that until later.

“Oh my god, these cheese-steaks will never not be delicious” Dean said, well he knew he said that, Charlie probably heard random mumblings since he was trying to talk around a large bite of said sandwich.

“You say that every time we come here, I think everyone in the whole city has heard about these sandwiches from you.” Charlie said, popping the last of her fries into her mouth. “So, what do you think of the new boss? He’s definitely got the hot single dad look down doesn’t he?”

Dean was lucky he had just swallowed, otherwise he would’ve choked on his sandwich instead of just air. He coughed a bit and, trying to buy time, took a long sip of his soda.

“Why do you think I noticed how he looked?” he fired back shiftily. Had she caught him staring? Had he been too obvious? No, he hadn’t been gawking, he was sure of it. “Besides, why are you checking out a dude? We both know you don’t bat for that team.”

Charlie rolled her eyes, stole some of the fries off his plate and ate them, giving him a ‘come on’ look as she chewed and swallowed.

“Just because I’m totally on team girl doesn’t mean I don’t know what an attractive man looks like. Also, I have to keep my eyes peeled so if I find a suitable match for my work-partner-in-crime, I can send him your way.” she patiently explained, like this information was so obvious.

Dean picked at his fries while trying to come up with a response. He had noticed how attractive Cas was but what would that matter? The man had to be straight, he did have a daughter after all. And considering he could afford their agency, must be pretty loaded, a guy like that wouldn’t be interested in a nanny even if he was into guys. Besides, putting aside all the other issues, there was this tiny fact...Cas was essentially his boss.

He sighed and looked up from his plate, “Yes,” he confessed, “I did notice that Cas is extremely hot but you know as well as I do, it doesn’t matter. He’s my new boss. I can’t be hitting on my new, straight boss.” He took an angry bite of his sandwich, suddenly not feeling as hungry as before. 

Damn Charlie and her questions, putting him off his food.

His friend held up her hands in a placating gesture. “I’m not saying you should hit on him, I just wanted to know what you thought of him. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard you talk about someone, I was just making sure you were still capable of looking.”

“I’m still capable of looking.” Dean argued. “I just haven’t had time to go looking for anyone and besides, when I do most of the guys I find aren’t what I want.” 

It was true, he did go out to bars every once and awhile but always went home alone. Most of the guys, or girls he liked to mix it up sometimes, just weren’t doing it for him. Maybe it was the fake-ness that oozed off of most of them, they’d say anything for a hookup and back in the day he would have taken them up on it in a heartbeat but now...well. He blamed it on being a nanny too long, watching and being involved in families’ everyday domestic lives, even slightly, had started making him wish for something like that for himself. 

“Okay, so don’t hit on your new boss but you really should try to find someone to settle down with if that’s what you want.” Charlie countered. “I know you love the nanny gig but you can’t do it forever and you’ve told me you eventually want kids of your own so why not actively go looking for someone to help with that. Stop going to bars and get on a dating app or something.” 

She grabbed the last couple fries from his plate and chowed down on them triumphantly, clearly thinking she had won the argument.

Dean chewed the last bite of his sandwich, thinking over what Charlie said. Maybe she was right.

“If I tell you I’ll think about it, will that get you off my case for the time being?” he asked wearily. He didn’t really want to have to think about this considering he was starting a new job tomorrow and he needed to focus. He had a feeling it was going to be hard enough to concentrate as it was.

Charlie laid down the money for their food and the tip. “As long as when you do decide to start looking seriously, you let me help you with your dating profile.” she replied cheerily.

Dean rolled his eyes. Yeah, like he’d really get on a dating site.

“Fine, deal. Now let’s go, I’ve got to get around for work tomorrow.”

 

Just as he was getting into bed that night, his phone rang. He checked the caller id, it was Sam.

“Hey Sammy, how’s sunny California?” he said jauntily.

“It’s fine as always. I haven’t heard from you in over a week, the Braedens making you work overtime or something?” Sam answered teasingly. He thought it was funny how Dean called him at least every three days to check up on him at school. Dean didn’t think there was anything wrong with making sure his Sasquatch brother didn’t fall into the ocean or whatever happened to people in California. 

“Actually, I don’t work for the Braedens anymore. I start working for a new family tomorrow.” Dean replied, turning his bedside lamp on and getting out of bed. Sam would probably have him on the line for a bit so he might as well get some puttering done. He went out to the living room to fold the laundry he had sitting in the basket.

There was a moment of silence on the line. “Oh, wow, what happened there? I thought you said everything was going well and you figured you had a couple years left with them.”

Dean explained the whole moving situation and by the time he was done, he had a nicely folded basket of laundry and a sympathetic brother in his ear.

“I’m sorry to hear about that, you really liked that job but you do have something else going for you right? You said sometimes it was a bit difficult to get new gigs since male nannies aren’t as popular.” his brother asked. Dean could practically feel the concerned puppy face through the phone, hopefully Sam could feel his eyes rolling right back at him.

“Yeah, Sammy I have another gig. Possibly a better one than the Braedens, I’ll be working a lot more hours since the kid is younger and I’ll be working most of the day because it’s a single dad and he works.” he reassured his brother. “You don’t have to worry, I’m fine. Now enough about me, how’s school?”

Sam launched into an epic description of his new found love for some on campus coffee house (they’ve got free wifi and extremely comfortable work areas apparently). He told him about how he’s been doing well on his exams, not that this surprised Dean. He knew his brother was a brainiac. Finally Sammy told him about how he and Eileen, his girlfriend, were thinking about getting an apartment off campus next semester. 

“That’s great Sammy. I’ve always liked Eileen, she keeps you on your toes.” Dean said, a little bit of brotherly pride leaking into his voice; he was glad everything was going well for his little brother. He had just finished putting away the dishes, he had put the laundry away earlier, when he noticed it was starting to get late. “Listen, I would love to keep talking and razz you like my brotherly duties demand but I’ve got to get to bed. I start work tomorrow and I want to be there a little early since it’s the first day.”

His brother laughed, “Sucking up to the new boss already? Well, I can’t interfere with that. Let me know how everything turns out. Talk you later.”

Dean hung up the phone, turned off the light and got into bed. He settled down and stared at the ceiling for a minute, replaying Sam’s last words.

Sucking up to the new boss…

_Thanks Sam, like I really needed help getting that image in my head!_

He punched his pillow, imagining it was his goofy brother with his crappy sense of wording things, and tried to go to sleep. If blue eyes popped up in his dreams sometime during the night, well that was just a coincidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the typical Dean-food is burgers but I was really craving a cheese-steak from my favorite local place today, they are the standard by which I judge all cheese-steaks...


	6. Chapter 6

After they left the nanny agency, Castiel and Claire spent the rest of the afternoon running errands, followed by a stop at their favorite ice cream shop as a reward for Claire behaving so well for Charlie while he had been interviewing the new nanny so they didn’t get home until after their usual supper time. He threw together a quick meal of mac and cheese accompanied by animal shaped chicken nuggets which they enjoyed in front of the T.V. in the living room. While they were eating, he asked Claire if she was excited about the new nanny being there tomorrow.

“I guess so, Mr. Dean seemed really nice.” she said but he caught bit of hesitation in her tone that hadn’t been there at the agency. Castiel had a feeling he knew what the problem was.

“You know Claire, just because Mr. Dean will be your new nanny, that doesn’t mean he’s going to try and replace Madison.” Sometimes he forgot that Madison had been a big part of his daughter’s life and that it was highly likely she loved the previous nanny. It was probably hard not to love someone who took care of you almost everyday. “You don’t have to feel guilty about liking Mr. Dean, Madison knows that she’ll always be special to you.”

She looked up from her little plate to fix him with her sad little eyes. “I miss Madison.”

This statement broke Castiel’s heart a little. In the rush to find a nanny and keep his job, he hadn’t really stopped to see how Claire felt about all this. Sure the couple of days before and after Madison left had been hard, Claire had been very upset, crying from time to time but eventually it looked like she bounced back. He should have realized that just trying to drop another person in that empty space wasn’t going to be easy.

“Of course you do sweetheart and there is nothing wrong with that,” he murmured into her hair as he sat her on his lap and hugged her close, being careful not to jog the plate she still held in her little hands “But it’s okay to like Mr. Dean too. He’s a very nice man and I’m sure Madison would feel happy knowing that someone nice was taking care of you now that she can’t anymore.”

Claire perked up a bit at this and gave him surprised look. “Really? Are you sure?”

He laughed and gave her kiss on the head. “Of course I’m sure, I am a dad after all and we know everything.”

“No you don’t!” she giggled, squirming to be let down, “You didn’t know that Miss Margaret and Timothy Bear can’t sit together when you play tea party.”

Ah yes, the tea party rules, that had been a steep learning curve. Apparently there was an extremely important seating chart for the guests since some of them did not get along, like in the case of Miss Margaret the rag doll and Timothy the teddy bear. It seems the rag doll had called the bear a "poopy head" and they have been feuding ever since.

“I guess you’re right, maybe I don’t know everything.” Castiel said with a smile. He ruffled her hair as he got up to put his empty plate in the kitchen. “Now finish your chicken nuggets, it’s getting late and you still need to have a bath before bedtime.”

 

Later that evening after Claire had been given her bath and tucked away in bed, Castiel found himself in front of the T.V. watching nothing in particular while enjoying a beer. He didn’t drink very often, maybe one or two on the weekends, but this was a celebratory beverage for making his boss’ deadline. Maybe he finally deserved a chance to kick back and relax. It was during one of the commercial breaks that he found himself scrutinizing his surroundings and came to a shocking realization.

His house was a disaster area.

There were toys scattered everywhere and random items of clothing littered throughout the room. The kitchen sink was full of dishes and the dining room table was full of work papers. He didn’t even want to think about the what the random smudges on all the walls and counters were. He also remembered what Dean had said about preferring things to be clean. 

Castiel couldn’t have his house look like this the very first time Dean saw it. He had to clean this all up. He glanced at the clock. It was only 9:30, he had plenty of time.

He lost track of time as he gathered up all the random bits and pieces cluttering up the house, wiped down all the walls and counters and scrubbed the floors so when his phone beeped indicating a call, it shocked him a bit to see it was almost midnight. Who would be calling him at this hour?

“Hello?” he said as he headed to the laundry room to switch his loads around. He still had at least two loads to go before he was done.

“Clarence! How the hell have you been?”

Ah, it was Meg. She always did have a knack for calling at the oddest of times even back when they were dating in college. It was if she believed that everyone else had to be on the same sleep schedule as her.

“I’m fine Meg, how’s Europe?” he replied as he added the various fluids to the washing machine.

Another reason she tended to call at strange hours. He suspected she forgot that there was a several hour time difference between them anymore. Castiel thought he could hear traffic blaring in the background. Grabbing the basket of freshly dried laundry, he carried it to the living room before heading back to the kitchen to wash his dishes.

“Not too bad, I’m going to miss it when they transfer me back to the states so I’m trying to make the most of my time here, mainly by checking out all the nightlife I can.” she answered flippantly.

“They’re sending you back?” he asked, surprised. 

Meg worked as a writer for a magazine that catered to those who liked to travel and had the money to do so, she had been slowly making her way across Europe for the last two years reviewing various vacation hot-spots. Her love of travel was one of the reasons they didn’t work as a couple, Castiel preferred to stay where he was for the most part.

“Yup, my lovely stay in Europe is over. The magazine wants me to run around in the U.S. for a while. That’s why I called, to let you know that I’ll be able to harass you in person soon instead of over the phone.” his friend said with a laugh. Castiel chuckled a bit as well, he really did miss her sometimes even if she was a pain in the ass.

“Well you know where Claire and I live, come see us when you’re back.” Castiel replied, scrubbing at a particularly tough pan, the one he may or may not have burnt some grilled cheese on last week.

Meg paused for a minute before asking, “How is the little munchkin anyway? Last time we talked you said she was a bit down because your nanny was quitting.”

Castiel sighed, more at the lack of progress that he’d made on the pan than at the question. Burnt cheese really was a bitch to get off pans, especially when one lets it sit for a week trying to avoid cleaning it.

“She’s doing better, I think my staying home for the last couple weeks helped but she did have a bit of a guilty moment tonight over being excited about her new nanny starting tomorrow.” Well technically it was tomorrow right now but that was just semantics. 

Meg hummed in agreement. “Well, hopefully once she gets used to this new one, she’ll be fine. Now changing the subject, when do you plan on banging this new nanny?” she asked, her teasing smile almost dripping through the phone.

Castiel froze, dropping the frying pan into the sink with a clang, and spluttered indignantly, “I do not want to bang the nanny! Why would you ask me that?!” Realizing too late that this was just going to look extremely suspicious and he should have just laughed it off as the joke it obviously was. Meg was totally going to sniff out his budding crush on his new nanny if he wasn’t careful.

She laughed heartily at his obvious discomfort. “I was just joking Castiel, you know I’ve always ragged you for not embracing the well-to-do single dad pervs on the sexy nanny cliche.” Meg replied with a tone that indicated she was rolling her eyes at his reaction. “Also, what are you doing that’s making that much racket? Shouldn’t your little charge be sleeping right now, don’t want to wake her up.”

Great, he glared at the offending pan, now he was going to have to try and explain away the fact he was currently cleaning like a crazy person in the middle of the night to impress the new nanny. He poured all his frustrations into scrubbing at the stupid frying pan.

“I, uh, I might be cleaning up the house a bit, you know to make it presentable and to make things easier for the new nanny on his first day.” he said carefully, making sure to keep his tone light and not incriminate himself further. The pan was finally clean. He guessed there was some benefit to washing dishes while somewhat angry and frustrated.

“Wait, did you say _his_ as in your nanny is a dude?” Meg asked with no small amount of interest in her voice.

Shit. He paused in putting the pan away.  
_Damn pronouns_ he cursed mentally.

Castiel took a deep breath and braced himself on the counter before answering in the affirmative. He practically felt the wheels in Meg’s brain turning now. She of all people knew that his preferences tended to lean towards men, she was the one who helped him accept that he attracted to both men and women.

“So let me get this straight, you’re cleaning your house in the middle of the night to impress your very male nanny? I was right and I didn’t even know it!” she cackled, “You totally want to bang your nanny!”

Castiel groaned with embarrassment and held the phone away from his ear slightly until Meg’s raucous laughter subsided to wheezing chuckles. She was never going to let him live this one down, never in a million years. They would be old geezers in a nursing home and she would be calling him up to remind him of the time she inadvertently discovered he was attracted to his daughter’s nanny. 

“Are you done yet?” he asked tiredly. He really needed to get to bed. It was almost 1:30 in the morning and he still had to finish the laundry.

“Almost,” she chuckled, “All you have to do is tell me how hot this guy is and I’ll leave you to your misery. I bet he’s gorgeous. You always did have good taste in men.”

Part of him balked at actually revealing that he found Dean attractive but the rest of him was so damn tired he didn’t care anymore.

“Yes, he’s gorgeous.” he confessed exasperatedly running a hand through his hair, “He has what I suspect is the body of an underwear model, a face that would make most of Hollywood jealous and he can wear the hell out of a pair of dress slacks. Happy now?” He wandered into the living room and collapsed on the sofa, almost sitting on the laundry basket.

“No, not really, not until I get to see this gorgeous nanny for myself but this will have to do for now. I’m going to release you.” she answered good-naturedly. This caused him to slump over the arm of the couch in relief. The interrogation was almost over. 

“But before I go, a bit of advice: lighten up Clarence. So you think the nanny is hot, so what? That’s no reason to tie yourself into knots. You are allowed to appreciate a hot guy when he’s plopped right in front of you.” she said, in a surprisingly gentle tone for someone with her personality, “Now stop cleaning, I’m sure your house is fine, and go get some sleep alright? I’ll talk to you later.”

Castiel hung up the phone after a quick goodbye and set his phone on the coffee table.

As much as he wanted to take Meg’s advice, he didn’t think he could just not feel awkward about finding Dean attractive, the man was basically his employee. He was just going to have to try and ignore it. That should be easy, with the next couple of days being the exception, he was only going to see the man for a few minutes each day. Everything would be fine.

He pulled the laundry basket towards him and started picking out items to fold. The washing machine had a few minutes left in the cycle, once that was done he’d put it in the dryer and go to bed.

 

_Knock! Knock!_

Brisk knocking at the door brought Castiel abruptly awake.

His back ached and he had no idea where he was at first but then he remembered his cleaning spree and talking to Meg. It appeared that he fell asleep while folding laundry on the couch.

_Knock! Knock!_

_Who is knocking at his door at a quarter to eight in the morning_ …he thinks irritably as he piles clothes in the basket. Then it hits him.

Dean Winchester starts work today. Dean Winchester is at his door, probably in his nicely pressed clothes, ready to start the day, while he, the employer, hasn’t had a shower or a shave, is still in his pajamas and has what he believes are pillow lines on his face.

_Good job making a good impression..._  
Castiel rubs a hand over his face defeatedly and goes to answer the door.


	7. Chapter 7

In retrospect, Dean’s first day as Claire’s nanny was pretty normal with a few exceptions of course.

The first exception being that Dean got a glimpse of what a just-out-of-bed Cas was like and to be honest, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing. 

When the door opened Dean was graced with the sight of an employer clad in an old thin t-shirt and low hanging pajama pants, in addition to rocking bedhead and scruff that some models would kill to have naturally. 

“My apologies, Dean,” he said, in a sleep roughened voice than Dean thought was possibly even sexier than his regular one, “I was up late last night and accidentally fell asleep on the couch. Please come in.” He moved aside to allow the nanny to enter the hallway. 

After showing him where he can leave his coat, and his shoes if he preferred, Cas led him further down the hall and into what Dean assumed was the living room. It was a pretty spacious room with several armchairs and a comfy looking sofa as well as an entertainment system that Dean would love to have in his own living room.

“So, where is the little munchkin?” Dean asked, trying to get the ball rolling. Cas was obviously still trying to wake up if the yawning and eye rubbing were any indication.

“She’s still asleep I believe. We were out all afternoon yesterday causing us to miss nap time so she most likely crashed very hard last night.” the other man said, or growled to be more accurate. Apparently his new boss was not a morning person. “I’ll go and wake her up, please have a seat.” 

He waved his hand vaguely at the sofa and headed for a set of stairs near the back of the living room. Right before he got to the stairs he stretched his arms over his head causing his shirt to ride up, revealing his lower back and the fact that his pajama pants had ridden down low, like very low. So low in fact, it got Dean to wondering if his boss was wearing any under…

_Whoa! Stop right there mister!_ his rational brain said as it pulled the emergency brake on that train of thought, _You are a professional, professionals do not stare at their bosses asses!_

Trying to distract himself from his traitorous thoughts, Dean sat down on the couch and pulled out his planner. He used the planner to make note of any phone numbers or any medical information like allergies that he might need to remember. At some point he wouldn’t need it but he felt better if he had a list in the beginning.

“Mr. Dean! You’re here!” an excited voice squealed behind him.

He turned around to find a very energized Claire squirming in her father’s arms to be put down. Chuckling at his daughter’s eagerness, Cas placed her down on the floor and the little girl immediately raced over to climb up on the couch and sit next to Dean.

“We are going to have so much fun today. We can play tea party and watch cartoons!” she babbled ecstatically, tugging on the sleeve of his dress shirt. Dean smiled. Sure this was going to be different from watching Ben but he definitely wasn’t going to be bored.

Cas wandered over to the kitchen and started fiddling with a coffee maker. Dean picked Claire up off of the couch and walked over to him.

“So what do I need to know about taking care of this lovely little princess? No allergies or medical conditions? Any special schedules I should know?” Dean asked, tickling her to make her giggle. She really was quite adorable.

The other man broke his concentrated stare from the slowly filling coffee pot to look at him.

“Nope, Claire is healthy as can be. And as for her schedule, we usually have breakfast at eight, lunch at eleven, nap at twelve and a snack at two with dinner at a little after six.” he replied with a charming grin, “It’s not strict though, there’s wiggle room if you need it.”

That was pretty simple. Some parents had their kids running like Swiss train stations where any deviation was cause for a meltdown. It made his job easier if he didn’t have to worry about hitting the schedule right on the mark.

The smell of coffee filled the air and soon Cas was pouring himself a huge mug of it, a more normal sized one for Dean and a small cup of milk and and some cereal for Claire. The other man asked if he took anything with it but Dean preferred his coffee black, a fact that seemed to please the other man. While they sipped at their drinks and Claire munched on her breakfast, Cas explained the layout of the house, where various supplies were and answered any questions Dean had about taking care of Claire.

It was way more domestic feeling than Dean was used to, sitting at a table and drinking coffee with his boss and his boss’ daughter but he found that he enjoyed it.

“Well, I think I’m going to go and start some work. If you think of anything, you know where I’ll be.” Cas said as he trudged towards the stairs, his office was on the second floor next to his room.

 

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. Dean and Claire did have their tea party in a space ship and watched cartoons, educational ones of course, and the only time they saw Claire’s father was when he loped down the stairs around lunchtime to grab something to eat.

There was only one other incident and Dean thought it was proof that the universe was enjoying the torture it was putting him through.

At nap time, Claire refused to lay down until she had her bumble bee blanket. Dean searched all over her room and the living room but no dice. After ten minutes he decided it was time to admit defeat and go to Cas for help. He went across the hall to Cas’ office but he wasn’t there. 

Confused, Dean decided to see if the man was in his room. The other man had said he was up late, maybe he was taking a nap too. Dean didn’t want to do anything inappropriate so he raised his hand to knock on the door first but realized too late that the door was unlatched when he went to knock and the door swung open to reveal…

A shirtless, gym short wearing Cas.  
Doing pull-ups from a bar that was secured in his closet doorway.

_Oh dear God_...even Dean’s rational part of his brain screeched to a halt for a minute but it quickly started up again when Cas stopped and looked at him in surprise.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Dean gushed, trying to think of a way to salvage this moment from the clutches of mortification, “It’s just Claire won’t take her nap without her blanket and I can’t find it and then I couldn’t find you so I thought I would check to see if you were taking a nap…”

“Dean!” Cas interrupted his babbling, pulling on a t-shirt and thereby saving Dean’s sanity. “It’s fine, I did say come and find me if you needed help. Her blanket is in the dryer, I’ll go grab it for you. And don’t worry, you didn’t interrupt anything important. I was just taking a break from my work.”

The other man headed for the stairs, giving Dean a moment to collect the shattered pieces of his brain. Unfortunately once the pieces were together they were laser focused on what he had just seen. Cas was in incredible shape, the man had actual abs for crying out loud and chest straight out of a men’s fitness magazine.

_Pull yourself together! You are at work, no more fantasizing. Focus!_

Dean was just beginning to consider slapping himself in the face when approaching footsteps heralded Cas’ return with the blanket. He handed the blanket to Dean and then headed back into his room, making sure to tell Dean to find him if he needed anything else. The nanny quickly escaped to Claire’s room where what do you know, she had already fallen asleep.

He spent nap time tidying up the various mess that had been made throughout the day and once Claire woke up from her nap, Dean spent the rest of the afternoon keeping her entertained. Next thing he knew, it was six o’clock and he could leave.

Cas must have noticed the time because he came downstairs to show Dean out and get a report on the day. Luckily for Dean’s sake, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and there were no more accidental glimpses of things Dean really wanted to see but really shouldn’t see.

After he left the Novak’s and got into his car, he slumped behind the wheel with an exhausted groan.

Dean was sure if he had another repeat of today, he might have a heart attack. He wondered if he was going to be able to survive working for Castiel Novak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up to all you lovely people, I've been on vacation for the last couple of days which is why I've been updating so fast but unfortunately I go back to work today so things might slow down a bit. I've got a few chapters all ready to go so I might be able to still do the every day update thing but just in case I can't, don't worry I won't be disappearing on you. Thank you all for reading :)


	8. Chapter 8

A few weeks passed and it seemed to Castiel that his life had finally settled back into a predictable rhythm again. Get up, prepare for work, get Claire awake, hand her off to Dean for the day, go to work, come home and take over for the nanny. It was pretty peaceful.

Except for the constant distraction that was Dean Winchester.

Most of it was just little things. How the nanny smiled and laughed. How he would sometimes stand just a touch too close when he was showing him the shopping list for the week, allowing Castiel to catch a brief whiff of his cologne and to feel his body heat. Or how when he would come home from work Dean would be unfairly disheveled, the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up to the elbows with the top button of his shirt undone. 

Castiel had actually tried to avoid this last issue by telling Dean he didn’t have to wear business casual to work, with the excuse that taking care of four year old would be hard on his wardrobe, but that backfired big time. If Dean wearing business casual could be classified as a handsome devil then Dean wearing form fitting t-shirts and well worn jeans would definitely be labelled a sexy one. 

This development did not help stop the dreams that sometimes woke him from a dead sleep, sweating and gasping, forcing him to douse himself in cold water so he didn’t break his one newly established rule: he would not fantasize about Dean, especially during his...me time.

He had tried, really tried, to ignore his attraction to the nanny but it wasn’t working. There was just something about him that drove Castiel crazy. Sure the man was one of, if not the, most handsome men he had ever seen but it was Dean’s personality that was the real hook. He was kind and funny and he was so good with Claire, all of the things Castiel had unconsciously been looking for in a partner. 

Not that he was actively looking, much to Meg’s disapproval. She was always nagging that he was too young to be alone and now that she was back in the country she was even more adamant that he get back out in the dating pool. Her theory was if he went on a few dates and “released some tension”, maybe he wouldn’t be as bothered by his stunningly attractive nanny. She even went as far as to threaten that if he didn’t at least have a profile setup by the time she came to visit, in about two weeks, she would take matters into her own hands and do it for him.

Which is why Castiel was sitting at his desk on his laptop trying to answer bizarre questions on some dating site.

 _This is a complete waste of my time_ he thought to himself for what had to be the twentieth time that hour. Yeah, an hour, he had been working on this for an hour and it wasn’t even done.

After the fifth time he hit submit and was directed to yet another set of questions, he slouched back in his desk chair and groaned. Turning to look at the clock he saw it was getting late. He sighed as he turned back to the computer. He would go through this set of questions and another set popped up, he was going to just stop. It’s not like he really wanted this anyway.

So of course the next time he submitted his answers the screen showed his newly created profile. 

_Finally!_

Now all he had to do was show this to Meg when she came to visit this weekend and she would get off his back and he could get back to being sexually frustrated by the clueless nanny. Everybody wins.

 

“Is this seriously the best you can do?”

Meg was looking at his profile with an incredulous look on her face. She had showed up that afternoon, bringing souvenirs from her trip for Claire and a bottle of booze for her and him to share. Once Claire had said an excited hello and thank you to Auntie Meg, she was off playing with her new toys up in her room. Meg immediately demanded to see proof of his compliance. He had logged into his profile to see if it met her standards.

“What do you mean, ‘is this the best I can do’? I filled out the profile like you ordered.” Castiel replied, reaching up into the cabinet to grab some wine glasses. Thank god she had brought booze, he had a feeling he was going to need it.

“I mean, you are trying to attract a man and you use that” she drawled as she indicated his profile picture, “as your profile pic?” He poured an ample amount of wine into the glasses and set one next to her, taking a long sip of his own, and looked at the offending photo.

Castiel didn’t see what was wrong with the picture. It was a photo of him from a work party wearing a suit that he cropped to show him from the shoulders up. It was a decent photo of him so that’s what he used.

“It’s boring Clarence. You’re never going to draw in a hottie if you use a picture that looks like you could use it for an employee badge photo.” she said, sounding annoyed with him. “You’ve got to give the boys a little peek at the goods.” She was clicking and typing on his computer now. This probably didn’t bode well for him.

After a few minutes, in which she refused to let him see what she was doing, she turned the computer back around with a triumphant smirk and grabbed her wine glass. “Now that will help you land a good one.” she declared.

She had changed his profile picture to a shot of him from two summers ago when she and him had taken Claire to the beach for the week during one of the times she was able to visit. The original photo had been of him sitting on the beach in his swim trunks with Claire playing in the sand about a foot away but Meg had cropped it so it was just him in the photo. The egotistical part of his mind had to admit, he looked good, all the sun he had been in had given him a really nice tan but the self-conscious part was cringing.

“I’m half naked in that picture!” he protested, trying to make a grab for the computer but his friend pulled it out of his reach. “I don’t want the pervs on this site staring at me.”

Meg rolled her eyes as she set her wineglass down. “It’s not that bad. You’re in swim trunks. You act like I posted a picture of you in a banana hammock or something.”

He considered arguing with her and getting her to change the photo back but just then Claire came down the stairs, complaining that she was hungry. Castiel checked the time and saw that it was indeed passed suppertime. 

“How about we order some pizza and we can watch a movie with Auntie Meg?” he asked as he picked her up and rested her on his hip.

“Can we have ice cream too?” she asked hopefully. Usually if they had take-out Castiel would make sure that her bedtime snack was a bit healthier than usual and he was just going to remind her of that when Meg piped up.

“Of course we can kiddo, it’s not everyday that I get to visit so I make the rules.” she said with a grin. As much as Meg denied that she liked kids, she spoiled Claire whenever she was in town so Castiel knew it was pointless to protest.

“I guess we can have pizza and ice cream tonight.” he agreed reluctantly. Claire squealed with excitement and Meg gave her a high five. He set his daughter down and went to order the pizza while Meg and Claire went to set up a movie.

He completely forgot about the picture on his dating profile.


	9. Chapter 9

It only took two months of working for the Novaks for Dean to finally cave and ask Charlie for help with setting up a dating profile. He couldn’t take it anymore. Not that he didn’t love his actual job, he loved taking care of Claire, she was a sweet kid but he’s not sure he could handle the weird domesticity whiplash he got at the end of the day when he left Cas and Claire in their home to go back to his lonely apartment. That plus the fact that trying to repress his attraction to the single dad was not working at all. 

He figured if he gave into the pressure from Charlie to start seriously looking for someone, he might be able to at least get laid once or twice and that could take care of one of his problems. 

Charlie had found him a site that would match you up with “compatible singles” but at the same time let you browse a list of people who were in your area. She insisted was a good site and after taking a look, Dean had to agree.

It took them an afternoon to get it all set up and soon Dean was surfing through a sea of singles and cringing at some of the horrible profile taglines. Honestly, that was all they had accomplished since getting the profile setup. Some of the profiles that showed up locally were train-wrecks. 

“‘I make it hard for you to like me as a human being’? Holy shit, are these people for real?” Charlie said after reading one guy’s profile. They were sitting on his couch, munching on some chips and taking a look at the singles listed as being nearby or examining the local wildlife as Charlie had decided to call it.

“My personal favorite was the guy who said that if I message him for sex and he doesn’t respond right away, not to worry, he’ll get to me eventually.” Dean replied, rolling his eyes. He leaned back on the couch and rubbed at his eyes, trying to scrub away what he had seen over the last two hours. “Charlie, no offense but this is awful. Most of these guys are major douchenozzles and the ones that aren’t are creeping me out.” 

She hummed thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’d have to agree with you. I’m thinking this is a failed experiment and I won’t hold you to your promise if you want to delete this. You’re only going to get messages from a bunch of sex crazed weirdos; especially since, let’s face it, you’re one of the hottest dudes on here.” Her phone pinged and she absentmindedly reached for it.

Dean chuckled ruefully. “Thanks for the compliment.” He started gathering up the glasses and bags of junk food off of the coffee table to take to the kitchen.

“Anything for you, hot stuff.” she laughed as she tucked her phone away and stood up, “But as much as I’d like to be here for the big deletion, I have to roll out. I’ve got a raid scheduled online tonight so I must retreat to my batcave.” Charlie grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “I’ll do some research and try to find you a better site. Peace out!”

Well, that had been a complete waste of an afternoon but at least he was allowed to delete it without Charlie bitching at him. Time to get rid of this crap.

Just as he was about to navigate to the menu to delete his profile, he caught a glimpse of a profile at the bottom of the page that caused him to freeze.

_Castiel (Age: 30)_ 


What were the odds that there were two people with that name in this city? Knowing he would probably regret it, he scrolled down to look at the profile closer.

_Holy shit! There was a photo! A shirtless beach photo! A shirtless beach photo of his boss!_

Dean knew he shouldn’t, it would definitely not help his case of having the hots for his boss, but now that he knew it was there and what it contained, he had to click on Cas’ profile. Thank god Charlie had left and wouldn’t be witness to his shame. Holding his breath, he clicked on Cas’ name.

The picture was way better than the small thumbnail that showed next to Cas’ name. It looked like he was on a beach somewhere and must have gotten a fair amount of sun because there was what seemed like miles of perfectly tanned skin on display. Dean’s eyes travelled up to Cas’ face. The other man had what could only be described as beach sex hair and a squinty smile that just added to the overall aura of hotness.

If he had called it quits there, Dean would have been fine, still sporting a huge crush on his boss but that wasn’t anything new. He was just getting ready to exit out of the profile to go and delete his own when his eyes started to trail south. That small rational voice pleaded with him not to do it but it was being drowned out by an even louder voice that was saying what could it hurt to really check the photo out, it’s not like anyone would know. Dean’s eyes dropped down below the belt so to speak.

Cas must have just gotten out of the water before this was taken because his swim trunks looked pretty wet...and clingy.

_Sweet Jesus_ , all parts of his brain chimed in, _that swimsuit leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, you could practically see Cas’..._

At that point the rational part of his brain took over and exited out of the internet browser but the image was forever burned into Dean’s brain. 

 

Later that evening Dean tossed and turned in bed, trying desperately not to think about _it_. He tried counting sheep, warm milk and one of those guided sleep meditation things off of Youtube but he just couldn’t sleep. He knew there was another surefire way to induce sleep at his disposal but he was afraid to use it because of the potential consequences. Punching his pillow into what he prayed was a more comfortable shape, he rolled over to try and sleep, determined to not go down that road.

He held out until one in the morning. 

At that point he was so tired and frustrated he just didn’t care anymore. He knew what was bound to happen if he did this so soon after his discovery this afternoon but at this point his brain said screw the consequences. Sighing in defeat, he let his eyes close and his hands wander underneath his blankets…

An embarrassingly short amount of time and a breathy gasp that definitely did not sound “Cas” later, Dean was able to start drifting to sleep. Defeat had never felt so good. 

At least until the next morning when he remembered what he had done the night before. He sat up in bed and ran a hand through his hair.

He was so screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there was anyone out there who was hoping for a bit of smut here at the end, I was going to attempt it but I just felt like it would stick out in a weird way. At some point I'm hoping to give it try and the way things are going I think I can work it in so it seems natural but I don't want to shove smut in here just to have it.


	10. Chapter 10

Castiel was very perplexed. He stared at the spreadsheets on his desk like they would help him solve this puzzle but so far they had not been very helpful.

Dean had been acting odd when he had arrived that morning for work. The nanny had seemed spaced out when Castiel had been telling him that if Claire wanted to go out and play in the snow that was forecasted for the day, that it was fine with him, where he kept the winter things and that he was welcome to borrow anything if he needed it. 

It felt like Dean had been staring at him very intently, Castiel had felt his gaze on him almost like a physical sensation, but he didn’t appear to be absorbing what he had been saying. 

“Dean, are you feeling well?” he had asked, concerned the the nanny was getting the cold that was going around. “If you’re not up to working today, that’s fine. I can work from home today.”

Dean jumped slightly, looking like he had been caught at something and shook his head as if to clear his mind. “No, I’m completely fine. I just didn’t sleep well last night is all.” He smiled tiredly but he wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. Castiel still didn't quite believe him but let it go, he knew how seriously Dean took his job. He wouldn’t risk getting Claire sick, he probably just had a restless night was all.

The other thing that stuck out in his memory from this morning was how Dean flinched when he had touched him. Castiel had noticed that he had a bad habit of unconsciously touching Dean, nothing inappropriate of course, mainly small touches when they are both trying to maneuver in the small kitchen in the mornings. A hand on the back to avoid a collision or a nudge in the side in order to get into a cabinet. 

Though Dean never seemed to notice these touches or feel uncomfortable, Castiel tried to keep his hands to himself but this morning he had touched Dean’s arm without thinking when he asked if he was alright and Dean flinched away like he had been burnt. Come to think of it, Dean had had an even harder time meeting his eyes after that.

Castiel dropped his pen as a theory formed in his mind.

What if Dean knew about his attraction and felt uncomfortable about it? That would explain why Dean wouldn’t meet his eyes and why he flinched away from Castiel’s hand on his arm.

He leaned back in his desk chair and ran a hand anxiously through his hair, work completely forgotten. This had the potential to be a very bad thing. If his theory was correct, Castiel felt horrible for not being able to control himself. True, he hadn’t done anything terribly inappropriate to Dean but that didn’t make it any better. He obviously had created an uncomfortable working environment for the nanny and Dean was either trying to ignore it or afraid to lose his job if he complained. He was just considering the fact that maybe Dean was acting odd because he had decided to quit when another horrible thought hit him.

What would Claire think if Dean quit? Claire had become very attached to Dean. It would break her heart to lose another nanny so soon after she recovered from losing Madison. Especially since Castiel suspected his daughter was starting to like Dean even more than Madison.

Maybe he should talk to Dean about this tonight before the nanny left for the weekend. To try and get things sorted out before it got so bad Dean would quit.

For the rest of the work day, Castiel ran over all the possible scenarios and outcomes in his head instead of doing any actual work. He worked himself into an anxious knot over it so that when it was time to leave to go home, it felt like he was marching to the gallows.

_Well might as well get this over with_ he thought grimly to himself as he bundled himself up to head out in the snow for home.

 

_Damn it Dean! Why don’t you just make a sign that says “Hey, I jerked off last night to the thought of a picture of you at the beach”?!_ Dean thought irritably to himself as he cleaned up the living room after Cas left for the day. 

He knew that Cas had to suspect something, he had acted like a total spaz this morning. When Cas was giving him the run-down this morning about the snow, Dean could hardly keep his mind on what his boss had been saying. He just got caught up in watching the other man’s mouth move and imagining what it would feel like on his...or on other parts him. The line he had crossed last night had broken the lock on the mental door he had had in place and now practically every dirty thought he had about Cas was flashing through his mind at the worst times.

Then Cas had actually touched him. Dean had pulled his arm away as fast as he could, not realizing how strange his reaction had been until his saw the questioning look in Cas’ eyes, but he knew he had done the right thing in the end. He didn’t need to add the memory of Cas’ hands on him, even in a platonic sense, to the list of things to tempt him into any more lapses.

Before he could slip even further into the tangled pit that was his thoughts, he felt a tugging on the leg of his jeans.

“Mr. Dean?” Claire asked sweetly, “Is it time to play outside yet?”

She had wanted to go out and play in the snow as soon as she had been awake enough to notice it covering the backyard at nine that morning but Dean had been able to convince her that if she waited until before lunchtime there would be more snow to play in. She had quickly agreed and had been absorbed in watching her cartoons ever since. 

Dean looked outside and saw it was still snowing a bit but very lightly then looked at the clock. It was a little before ten thirty. This would work nicely. After a good twenty or so minutes outside, Claire would definitely be ready for some lunch and a nap.

He smiled down at her and made a show of looking at the clock in surprise. “You know what? It is time to go out and play in the snow. Thank you for reminding me Miss Claire, I almost forgot!” he ruffled her hair as as giggled at how silly her nanny was. “Let’s go get geared up to go outside.”

You would have thought he had just declared he was taking her to Disneyland by her reaction. It took a bit longer than he would’ve thought to wrangle her into her snowsuit due to the excited wriggling but soon they were outside.

They spent their time making snow angels at first but then Claire requested that they make snowmen, two snowmen and a snowgirl to be exact.

“One can be me and one can be Daddy and one can be you!” she had explained, breathless from rolling her small snowball. She then went on to list all the things they would need to finish the snowmen so they weren’t “naked”.

After they had the snowballs made, Dean gathered what they needed and soon there were three snow-figures in the backyard but sadly there weren’t enough spare hats for snow-Dean to have one. Seeing how upset Claire was at the thought of an incomplete snowman, Dean sacrificed his hat for the cause. It was snow-him after all. 

“Well, I think it’s just about lunchtime and all this snowman making has made me hungry. How about some soup and grilled cheeses?” he asked Claire as they surveyed their handiwork.

“Yeah, I’m really really hungry. Playing in the snow is hard work Mr. Dean” she said in such a serious tone and with a look of weariness, Dean had to bite the inside of his cheek so he didn’t laugh.

“That is so true. Let’s head inside and have some lunch, we’ve earned it.” he replied just as seriously and held his hand out to her. 

Just as Dean predicted, playing in the snow caused Claire to crash hard at nap time. He actually had to wake her up at one o’clock since he was worried she might sleep too long. Once she was awake, she begged to go outside again but Dean had to tell her no since all their snow things were still drying out. At first she threw a bit of a tantrum but once she had stopped fussing, Dean suggested they spend the rest of the day watching movies. He had finished cleaning the house and the other chores this morning during his worried cleaning spree so he didn’t think a lazy afternoon of movies would hurt anything. Playing in the snow forgotten for the moment, Claire ran upstairs to retrieve what looked like every blanket off of her bed.

“Mr. Dean, you have to have lots and lots of blankets and pillows to watch movies.” she informed Dean, as if this information was obvious, when he asked what she was doing. He shrugged, finding no fault in this logic, and helped her carry her bundle to the couch. He even added some blankets from the hall closet for good measure. They settled themselves on the couch after deciding on a Disney marathon, starting off with Beauty and the Beast which was one of Claire’s favorites.

They got so lost in their marathon that Dean was actually surprised when he heard the rattling at the door that signaled Cas’ return home. He checked his watch and, sure enough, saw that it was just after six already.

Cas came shuffling down the hall and entered the living room, smiling when he saw them on the couch. That smile caused a flutter of something in Dean’s stomach, not a bad something, just a weird something. Dean started to extract himself from the blanket pile on the couch, trying to not stare at Cas. The other man was looking especially disheveled today and Dean definitely did not need to be caught staring today considering how squirrel-y he had been acting this morning.

“I see you two have converted the couch into a nest,” he said, amusement evident in his tone, “And how was Claire today, Dean?” He hung his jacket over the back of one of the armchairs and came over sit on the couch next to his daughter, giving her a kiss on the head.

“Oh we had a fun day today, didn’t we Claire?” he said, causing the little girl to agree vehemently while trying to watch her movie, “We made snow angels and built some snowmen in the backyard this morning and watched Disney movies all afternoon but I guess it’s time for me to get going, I’ll leave you to take over my place for the marathon.” Dean started to head over to his bag and start getting around to leave. The less time he spent around Cas, the better his chances were at not acting like a crazy person.

Cas gave him a strange look, a look that contained a small amount of trepidation. “Dean, have you looked outside yet this afternoon?” he asked hesitantly.

“No, why?” Dean replied, confused. He halted in the middle of putting his jacket on.

“Umm..it started snowing pretty hard this afternoon,” Cas said hesitantly “There’s about a foot of snow outside.” The other man was fidgeting slightly, as if he were afraid how Dean was going to react to this information.

_Oh hell..._ Dean thought, a sinking feeling coming over him as he settled his jacket on his shoulders and went to look out the front window. Sure enough, it was snowing so hard he could barely make out the house across the street and the snow was getting deep.

“Well, I guess I’m going to have fun getting home tonight.” Dean laughed awkwardly. He started to put his boots on. It looked like he was going to have to dig out his car and driving in this was going to be horrible. He loved his baby but the Impala wasn’t going to like maneuvering in a foot of snow. “Can I borrow a shovel to dig myself out with Cas?” he asked.

Cas stared at him like the crazy person he believed himself to be. “You can’t possibly be suggesting you plan on driving in this?” he asked disbelievingly. 

“I sort of have to in order to get home. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Dean replied, trying to be reassuring.

“No,” Cas said forcefully, shaking his head, “I can’t in good conscience let you drive out in this mess. What if something were to happen to you? The roads were crap when I came home and they are probably way worse now. We have a guest room, you can stay here tonight and go home tomorrow when the roads are better.” He said this last part in a tone that brooked no argument. Dean would be staying here tonight whether he wanted to or not; he sighed in defeat, nodded at his boss and started to take his boots off.

Cas smiled with satisfaction and turned to head down the hall. “Good, I’m glad you can accept reason. For a minute there I was afraid I would have to tie you to a chair or something.” he called over his shoulder, “I’m going to start making supper, are you okay with spaghetti?”

_Oh boy…_

Dean gently smacked his head off the wall. He was in for a long and frustrating evening, wasn’t he?


	11. Chapter 11

If Castiel thought that his mind had been whirring at work earlier in the day, now it was practically a tornado. 

He had not only basically ordered his nanny to stay the night but what the hell was he thinking with that comment about tying him up?! Dean was already obviously uncomfortable about what had to be his discovery of Castiel’s attraction to him but to add a joke involving bondage would probably make Dean fear for his safety.

_Stupid, stupid Castiel..._

In order to distract himself from the awkward situation, he decided to exile himself to the kitchen and make himself useful. He headed for the kitchen and as he was passing the living room, he remembered Claire was on the couch; he would have to tell her that Dean was staying.

“Claire? Mr. Dean will be staying over tonight…” he started to explain when an excited shriek cut him off.

“A sleepover?! We get to have a slumber party?!” she exclaimed loudly as she ran over to grab his legs and jump up and down. Apparently the thought of an overnight visit appealed to her.

Castiel smiled and shook his head at her enthusiasm. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Dean entering the living room, now sans boots and coat but still wearing the hoodie he wears under his jacked which went extremely well with his rumpled hair and well worn jeans in Castiel’s opinion; he had a questioning look on his face.

Interpreting his unspoken question he said with a slight chuckle, “I’ve just informed Claire that you will be spending the night, as you can see she is slightly excited about the idea of a slumber party.” This statement appeared to put Dean in a better mood and he grinned.

“Well, who wouldn’t be excited about a sleepover? They are pretty awesome.” he replied as he shucked off his hoodie, giving Castiel a teasing glimpse of his stomach and, oh good lord, the trail of hair leading down to his…

_Stop staring, you dirty pervert you!_ his mind scolded him, _Do you want to make Dean feel even more uncomfortable?_ Castiel shook himself mentally and tried to act like he hadn’t been having a micro-fantasy about following that trail of hair all the way to the end and what he would do when he got there.

“Well, since you’ll be staying, why don’t you and Claire finish your marathon while I throw together some supper?” he suggested. 

Claire was immediately on board with this suggestion and started tugging Dean towards the couch, babbling about the sleepover activities they could do tonight, but the nanny paused.

“You’re sure you don’t want help making dinner, Cas? Since I’m going to be staying here, I’d like to be useful if I can.” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Castiel knew that if he let Dean help him with supper he would spend most of the time being hyper-aware of the man’s presence and trying not to touch him. He probably would be better off being alone so the only danger would be his own filthy minded thoughts.

“No, that’s okay.” he insisted, with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, “This is technically your time and I would feel bad putting you to work. You just sit and relax.”

Dean looked like he was going to argue but then shrugged. “Well you are the boss. Come on Claire, let’s go finish that movie.”

Claire cheered and clambered back onto the couch, into the nest of blankets, while Dean cleared a spot to sit and threw a blanket over himself. Castiel took a brief moment to absorb the image. It was just as heartwarming now as it was when he first saw it when he came home. If he were being honest with himself, it was one he wouldn’t mind coming home to more often; especially if he would be able to join the pair on the couch but that wasn’t possible so why bother thinking about it. He turned and headed for the kitchen to start the spaghetti.

Once he had the sauce on the stove to heat up, the water on to boil for the pasta and the garlic bread in the oven, he realized he was still in his work clothes. He was just musing that probably should change so he didn’t get stains on them when he realized that Dean probably didn’t have any clothes to change into. Would it be strange to offer some sweatpants at least for the other man to sleep in? Castiel dismissed that worry, his need to make sure his guest was comfortable trumping his worries, it would be rude not to offer. 

He walked out of the kitchen and over to the couch where his daughter and the nanny had started watching Lilo and Stitch.

“Dean?” he asked causing the man in question to turn and look at him, “I was just going to go and change out of my work clothes and I realized you probably don’t have anything to sleep in. Would you like to borrow a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt? I know I don’t like to sleep in the same clothes I’ve been wearing during the day.” Castiel explained hurriedly, praying to any deity who would listen that he didn’t sound creepy. Thankfully, Dean didn’t look too uncomfortable as he considered the question.

“That actually sounds pretty nice as long as you don’t mind.” Dean answered a bit shyly, like he didn’t want to impose. Castiel sighed with relief, internally of course, and smiled.

“I’ll bring you something down so you can change. You’re only a little taller than me so I’m sure I have something that will fit you.” he said as he turned to go to the stairs. It wasn’t until he was going up the stairs he realized he may have made another tactical error. 

_Dean is going to be wearing your clothes_ his rational brain panicked, _your clothes are going to be covering that gorgeous body…_

_...and they’ll probably be on the tight side,_ the dirty side of his brain interrupted, _Dean’s bigger than you, maybe if your sweats fit him snug enough, you’ll find out how big he really is…_

Castiel sat on his bed and ran a hand through his hair as realized he had just shot himself in the foot. Tonight was going to be the longest night of his life. 

  


Dean was trying his best to act casual. 

In a few short minutes he was going to have to keep cool while in the presence of Cas while the other man was wearing his unfairly hot sleepwear. 

_And speaking of sleepwear,_ his mind said crossly, _what the hell is wrong with you? Saying you’ll borrow a pair of Cas’ sweatpants and t-shirt?_

His brain wasn’t wrong, accepting Cas’ offer of pajamas had been a stupid move for several reasons. The first being that just the thought of wearing Cas’ clothes made him feel warm in that down-low tingly sort of way; he had always had a thing about wearing his boyfriend’s clothes, you know the few times he had a boyfriend that is. The second reason was an extension of the first, between wearing his hot boss’s clothes and being stuck in a house with said hot boss, he was bound to get a bit...excited; nothing horribly obvious, he did have some control thank you very much, but enough to be worried since sweatpants weren’t as forgiving as denim was. 

Eventually Dean heard Cas’ footsteps echoing down the staircase. 

“I’m fairly certain these will fit you, they are a bit loose on me.” Cas said as he walked down the last couple of steps. He was holding a pair of dark grey sweatpants and a faded green t-shirt. “If they don’t, I have a few other options you can try.” he continued almost hesitantly, “I want to make sure you’re comfortable; I can imagine that this situation is not ideal for you, being stuck at work essentially with your boss and his daughter.” 

So Cas was feeling guilty about insisting he stay the night instead of charging into the snowy night like an idiot. Dean figured that this was his fault, if he hadn’t been acting like a jackass about leaving maybe the other man wouldn’t feel bad. 

“Cas, you were right. I probably would’ve gotten myself in trouble trying to go home so I don’t want you to think I’m mad or anything.” As he said this he could see a lot of the tension leave Cas’ shoulders, “I know you have my best interests at heart and that’s actually a good thing so thank you.” Dean finished his little speech by clapping a hand on the other man’s shoulder in what he hoped was a purely platonic fashion. 

“Well, I still feel bad that you have to waste your Friday night here but I do feel better knowing you don’t resent me.” Cas admitted, “Now, you go try those on and I’m going to go finish up supper. Claire, come to the kitchen and we’ll get you cleaned up for supper.” 

Claire fought her way out of the blankets and dashed off towards the kitchen shortly followed by her father while Dean went to the bathroom to try on the clothes. It turns out they fit but they were a bit snug so he was going to have to be on his toes and make sure he kept his fantasies locked behind a new mental door. 

  


Later that evening after eating supper, the three of them were sitting on the couch watching the Lion King. Dean and Cas were on the ends of the couch with Claire between them and they were buried under a pile of warm blankets. Just as that bastard Scar killed Mufasa, Dean happened to look over and saw that Claire was completely knocked out snoring slightly. Playing in the snow and bouncing off the walls with excitement over having a sleepover had taken its toll apparently. 

“Hey, Cas” he whispered to Cas with a smile, the other man turning to look at him, “I think Claire is sleepover-ed out.” He nodded down at the sleeping girl. Cas smiled at his daughter and shook his head. 

“I’m just going to take her upstairs, I’ll be back.” Cas whispered back as he shifted sideways on the couch to carefully pick up his sleeping daughter. He walked softly towards the stairs and disappeared up them. 

Dean took the opportunity to stand and stretch; he had been afraid to earlier because he knew that when he lifted his arms over his head a sliver of his stomach would stick out. He was just stretching his legs and back real quick by reaching down to touch his toes when suddenly a voice spoke from behind him. 

“I don’t know about you,” Cas said as Dean shot up to turn and look behind him, “But I’ve had a long week so I was going to have a glass of wine. I figured it would be rude not to ask so, would you like some too?” The other man had a strange look on his face, his eyes were open a bit wide making him look worried again but Dean figured he was probably nervous about offering booze to his nanny. 

Since he wasn’t on the clock, he didn’t see the problem with having a glass plus he thought it might be rude to refuse. He could just sip at it. 

“Sure, I wouldn’t mind a glass.” he replied as he sat back down on the couch. Cas padded off towards the kitchen. Dean tossed a blanket over his lap, just in case of stray dirty thoughts. 

Maybe a glass of wine could be a good thing. It might help calm his nerves because now, he realized with a odd flipping sensation in his stomach, he was stuck alone on a comfy sofa blanket nest with his boss in a darkened living room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for being behind schedule, I got stuck helping my brother and his girlfriend go shopping for all their new house needs; believe me, I would have rather been working on this...I actually wrote most of it on an Ipod while wandering around furniture stores and housewares sections :)


	12. Chapter 12

Castiel was extremely happy he and Meg had started having weekly gab sessions on Saturdays now. Not that he didn’t love his best friend but she spent most of the time hounding him about that stupid dating profile so he dreaded them in a small way but she did bring a bottle of wine every week. And by some wonderful chance, there was still quite a bit left in last week’s bottle. If he were going to survive the night, he was going to need something to calm his nerves because his brain had been very right. 

Dean Winchester looked unbelievably hot in his pajamas.

The clothes were stretched tight in the best places; across the other man’s chest, around his biceps and, as Cas had just seen when the nanny had been stretching, hugging his ass. Cas whimpered mentally as he thought about coming into the living room to the sight of Dean bent over; it was just not fair. He grabbed two wine glasses and the bottle and, after taking a fortifying breath, walked out of the kitchen.

The nanny was sitting on the couch still watching the Lion King; Timon and Pumba were just teaching young Simba about their lifestyle and he could hear Dean softly singing along. The sight caused a ball of warmth to settle in Castiel’s chest. Dean really was adorable in addition to being sexy as hell.

“Here we go.” Castiel announced, mainly to let Dean be aware of his presence. He didn’t want the other man to feel embarrassed about being caught singing along to a children’s movie. Dean turned and smiled, moving some blankets around so Castiel had a place to sit.

He handed Dean one of the glasses, set his own on the coffee table and started to pour some of the red wine into the other man’s glass before filling his own. They both settled back into the couch and blankets, sipping their wine in silence for a minute while the TV flickered. Castiel could feel the awkward tension starting to pick up because what exactly should they talk about?

“I have to admit, I’m not sure what to do at this point.” he admitted nervously, toying with his glass and avoiding Dean’s gaze. “I mean, do we just watch tv? Do we sit and talk? What is appropriate to talk about?” Feeling even more awkward he let his voice trail-off into silence.

Dean chuckled. “You worry too much Cas. I know you feel weird because I’m your nanny but it’s okay to just talk about stuff. Here, I’ll start us off, how was work today?” 

This was good, Castiel could talk about work. 

“It was alright. I got a lot of work done,” he said, which was a lie actually since he was worrying about having made Dean uncomfortable but Dean didn’t need to know that. “I would ask you the same question but we already answered that earlier,” Dean grinned at this remark, “So I guess I’ll ask you something I’ve been wondering for a while, how do you like working here?” he asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

There, he had asked; he just hope the answer was one that he could handle. He watched Dean carefully over his glass as he took a sip, attempting to figure out what Dean’s reaction was to the question. 

Dean seemed to consider the question for a minute, looking into the wine glass in his hands as if it held some answers. His momentary silence frightened Castiel, Dean could be coming up with a way to gently inform him that he was uncomfortable working for him or worse, that he was quitting. He was just about to tell Dean he didn’t have to answer if he didn’t want to when Dean started to speak.

“Honestly Cas, this is one of the best gigs I’ve had. Claire is the sweetest, most awesome little girl I’ve ever had the honor of nannying for but,” he said, taking a second to drink some wine.

_Oh no, this is it, “but I can’t handle you perving on me you creep.”_ Castiel thought worriedly. Bracing himself for the worse, he gripped his glass tightly.

“I have to say, the fact that you actually seem to care about my wellbeing is one of the best parts of this job.” Dean continued with a soft smile, “Most of the people I have worked for would have kicked me out the door into the snow tonight because my shift was over and so they didn’t care about me anymore. You’re always asking if I’m okay or how my life is, not many people will do that for the hired help.” 

Castiel had never felt so relieved. Dean didn’t think he was some creepy perv, he actually thought he was a thoughtful employer. He took a large gulp of wine, he couldn’t tell if the fuzzy feeling in his head was the wine or the relief he felt but at the moment he didn’t care.

“I’m so glad to hear that you like it here. Claire has become very attached to you and, I hope this doesn’t make you uncomfortable, I’ve really grown to enjoy your company Dean.” he replied, not quite looking Dean in the eyes. 

Maybe it was his imagination but it looked like Dean was slightly surprised by this last comment and slightly flushed, maybe with embarrassment.

“I’ve really grown to like you too, Cas.” Dean said quietly, he quickly took another gulp of wine.

The blush spreading across his own cheeks was from the alcohol in his system, definitely not from Dean’s admission. Castiel noticed he and Dean’s glasses were almost empty. Against the advice from his rational brain he asked Dean if he wanted more as he added more wine to his own glass and Dean nodded in agreement. Castiel could feel the tension leaving the room, maybe the wine really had been a good idea.

 

Dean was starting to get nice and fuzzy halfway through his second glass of wine. The fact that he now knew that Cas liked him, which when phrased like that made him feel like a teenage girl, caused him to relax quite a bit. Cas seemed to have loosened up as well.

They talked for about two hours, after the Lion King ended Cas turned the TV to a random action movie so there was something on in the background. Cas told him about his college years, about meeting Claire’s mother and about how she died giving birth to their daughter. Dean told Cas about his childhood moving around with his dad and brother, about how he got into the nanny business and the shenanigans he and Charlie had gotten up to over the years.

Cas was doubled up laughing about the time Charlie forced Dean to be her handmaiden at one of her LARP events.

“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up Cas. I looked damn good in that dress.” he said in a mock pouting tone. He drained the last of his wine and smiled as he took in the view. The other man was flushed and smiling, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes as he looked back at Dean. They had unconsciously drifted closer on the couch so Dean was able to get a good look at those icy blue eyes.

“At least I can say that Meg has never made me wear a dress.” he chuckled, leaning his head back onto the couch. “She did force me to make a dating profile a couple weeks ago and posted this rather revealing photo as my picture. Come to think of it I haven’t taken it down yet, oh well, no one probably saw it anyway. I don’t know why I was worried, it wasn’t that great of a picture.” Cas reached for the bottle to pour the last little bit of wine in his glass.

If Dean had been thinking properly the next words out of his mouth most likely would have been a way to change the subject to something safer but unfortunately, the wine had gotten a good hold on his brain and told him that it was totally appropriate to say…

“Oh, I saw that picture. It was pretty great, you looked really hot.”

Everything in Dean’s mind came to screeching halt when he registered that Cas had frozen, eyes wide, and he replayed what he had said in his own mind.

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…_

“Oh god, that was so inappropriate, I am so sorry.” he babbled, quickly looking away and placing his glass on the table, “I’ll just go to bed, I’ll be out of your hair in the morning. I swear I won’t hold it against you if you report this to the agency…” He was just getting a good head of steam behind his rambling when Cas laid a hand on his arm, surprising him into silence.

“Dean,” Cas said softly, looking at him with an odd look on his face, almost as if some sort of realization was dawning on him. “Do you find me attractive?”

_Well, there’s probably no point in lying since you let the cat out of the bag, doofus_ his rational brain advised sullenly. Taking a deep breath, he looked Cas in the eye.

“Yeah. I do and I know I shouldn’t, I mean I don’t even know if you like guys, not to mention that it’s super wrong to have the hots for your boss.” he admitted firmly. If he was going to come clean, he was going to be a man about it. “I promise that this will not affect my job. If you don’t feel comfortable having me work for you anymore, I will personally have Charlie find you someone to take my place.”

Cas still hadn’t said anything by the time he finished talking. He was just staring back at him. Dean was starting to get nervous, maybe he should just go and lock himself into the guest room to wallow in his shame and mortification until morning. If it was still snowing tomorrow, he would walk home in snow if he had to; anything to get away from the mess he had just made.

He began to extract himself from the blankets, determined to escape this situation, but when he attempted to get off the couch, Cas grabbed his upper arm, stopping him.

Before Dean could open his mouth to speak, Cas slid his hand to the center of his chest and yanked him forward by the front of his borrowed t-shirt into the hottest kiss Dean had ever had the privilege to be a part of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! Back on schedule much to the joy of my obsessive need to be on time. I also have to admit my inner-fangirl was jumping up and down when I wrote the end of this chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

Kissing Dean was ten times better than he had thought it would be. 

Castiel probably shouldn’t have pulled the flustered nanny into a kiss but once Dean had admitted that he was attracted to him as well, he couldn’t help himself. All this time he had thought the other man was feeling uncomfortable because he knew about Castiel’s attraction and didn’t return it but he was just feeling uncomfortable because he was attracted to his boss.

He had never been so happy to have misread a person.

The kiss was very chaste at first, mainly due to shock on Dean’s part but soon the other man relaxed into the kiss, accepting it with enthusiasm. Dean raised a hand to twine his fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck and placed the other on his hip, rubbing his thumb back and forth over his hipbone causing Castiel to shiver. 

Thanks to the warm tingling caused by the wine they had drank, soon the kisses were getting rougher and more passionate. Dean’s tongue traced the seam of his lips, asking permission that Castiel was more than happy to provide, allowing the other man’s tongue to gently explore his mouth. Castiel groaned as he tasted the wine on Dean’s tongue and he placed a hand on the back of the other man’s head to pull him in closer, toppling them over onto the couch so Dean was on top of him.

Soon the only sounds in the room were their quiet panting, the whisper of their hands on fabric as they wandered over each other’s bodies and the mumbling of the infomercial on the TV. 

Castiel was practically bursting out of his skin with arousal. His fingers were tingling pleasantly with the buzz of the wine, touching Dean and being touched. He really hadn’t considered how long it had been since he’d experienced a make out session like this, it had been years. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he owed Meg an apology. She was right, he had needed this.

Dean had moved from his mouth and was pressing open mouthed kisses at the corner of his jaw and moving down his neck while running a hand through his hair, tugging his head to the side slightly. It made his scalp tingle in the best of ways so he returned the favor by running his hands up and down Dean’s back, massaging the muscles there.

Now that his mouth was unoccupied, Castiel had a moment to think about what was going on here. A small voice in his head said that maybe going any further might not be a good idea at the moment and as much as he was enjoying this, really really enjoying this, he knew the voice was right. 

_Okay so we can’t go to third or home but there’s really no reason to not hang out at first base for a bit right?_ the sneaky part of his mind reminded him as Dean fitted his mouth over his again for a kiss so good it had him literally curling his toes and got his heart pounding. Deciding that this part of his brain had a point, Cas wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck, nudged the other man’s hips so they were more comfortably positioned between his thighs and surrendered to the easy movements of Dean’s mouth.

Unfortunately, but not really unfortunately, Dean took the slight shift in position to slide his hands under Castiel’s t-shirt, making his way down to the waistband of his sleep-pants, something that he wanted very much to allow but something the rational side of his brain knew couldn’t happen right now.

“Dean,” he muttered, pulling his mouth away from the other man’s reluctantly. 

 

Dean pulled away panting and looked down at Cas in the flickering light of the TV. 

The other man looked thoroughly debauched and the effect was devastating. Cas’ lips were swollen and red, his eyes were glazed over and dark with lust and his hair was a disaster. Add in the scruff burn caused by his own stubble rubbing Cas’ neck and the man beneath him looked like something out of one of his dreams of late. 

“Yeah, Cas?” he asked, attempting to get his libido under control, something that was taking all his effort once he really became aware of his current position. He could feel his own face flush even more if that were possible at the moment.

Cas seemed to be experiencing the same problem. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. His cheeks were flushed a lovely shade of red from the combination of the wine and their..activities.

“Not that I’m not enjoying this,” Cas said, his voice even deeper and rougher than usual which gave Dean a shiver down his spine, “Believe me I am but maybe we should slow down.” 

Now that he had been given a moment to let the upstairs brain catch up, Dean could see what Cas was getting at. They just realized they were attracted to each other and they were both pretty buzzed, not to mention the fact that they weren’t alone in this house since Claire was upstairs. All of that added up to the conclusion that keeping it in their pants was a good idea. Dean sighed and pushed himself off of Cas. He reached a hand out to help the other man sit up.

“You’re right, we probably should take it slow. If, you know, you want to take this anywhere that is.” Dean responded hesitantly. It appeared that he was sobering up a bit from the mix of alcohol and arousal and it caused him to worry that maybe Cas wouldn’t want pursue a relationship with his nanny.

Cas rolled his eyes and leaned in to press a quick kiss to his mouth. “Of course I want to “take this somewhere” Dean. You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and you are amazing with my daughter, not to mention you’re absolutely gorgeous.” Dean chuckled at this. “Part of the reason I let Meg talk me into making that profile is because I knew how perfect you were for me but I thought I didn’t have a chance with you.” 

This response made Dean relax. He had been worried that Cas might want something purely physical which was something that he didn’t really want anymore. There were still other issues to work out, such as the small issue that Cas was technically his boss, but at least that fear had been put to rest.

“I’d like to take you on a date sometime if that’s agreeable with you.” Cas continued. He rested a hand on one of Dean’s and brushed his thumb back and forth over the skin, looking into his eyes questioningly.

Dean smiled. “I would really like that.” he replied, reaching a hand out to cup Cas’ cheek and pull him in for a chaste kiss. He took a moment to enjoy the feel of Cas’ mouth on his and the warmth of the other man’s body so close to his own. 

This kiss lead to a few more and soon they were approaching that heavy make out level of kissing and groping. Dean reluctantly placed his hands on Cas’ chest and lightly pushed him away.

“It’s getting late. We should probably go to bed.” Dean said in explanation. Cas picked up the remote to check the time. It was just about midnight. The other man sighed heavily.

“I suppose you’re right. We can talk about this over breakfast tomorrow.” Cas said as he rose off the couch, reaching out a hand to help Dean to his feet. “I’ll help you get the guest room around so you can sleep.”

They both trudged towards the stairs, each grabbing a handful of blankets off of the couch to take upstairs for the guest room. After depositing the blankets on the bed, they stood there awkwardly looking at each other for a minute.

Dean broke the stalemate by stealing one last kiss and nudging Cas towards the door.

“You better head to your own room mister. I can’t have you staying in here, people will talk.” he said lowly with a grin. Cas chuckled quietly.

“Yes, I can’t give people a reason to question your virtue.” he replied jokingly. He padded over to the door and paused in the doorway. “Good night Dean.” 

“Night, Cas.” Dean whispered.

Cas closed the door behind him, leaving Dean alone in the guest room. Turning to the bed, Dean started to put it in some semblance of order so he could get some sleep and climbed into bed. Once he was comfortable, he thought about what had happened this evening.

He and Cas had just made out like a couple of teenagers and then Cas said he wanted to take him on a date.

Best sleepover ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If someone had told me that one day I would be researching how to's on tumblr so I could write a decent make out session, I wouldn't have believed you but I guess you should never rule anything out.
> 
> I'd also like to thank everyone for the comments, they make me grin like a goober every time I get one. :)


	14. Chapter 14

When Cas woke up the next morning, it took a few moments of staring at the ceiling for him to remember the events of the night before. Once he did remember, he shot up in bed out of shock. 

_I was necking on the couch with Dean like we were in high school_ he thought with a not unpleasant jolt. Castiel smiled to himself, feeling extremely pleased with the events of last night.

He laid back down and ran hand through his tangled hair and took a minute to just bask in the lovely memory of Dean’s weight on top him and the other man’s mouth on his. It was a very good memory. Eventually after checking the clock and seeing it was just about nine, he decided he had laid in bed long enough he headed downstairs.

Dean and Claire were already awake and eating some waffles that the nanny had made from scratch on a waffle iron Castiel wasn’t even aware that he owned. He fixed himself a plate and sat down to eat with them. It was amazingly domestic and something Castiel definitely wanted to do again. After they were done eating, Claire hurried off to watch her saturday morning cartoons while Dean and Castiel cleaned up the kitchen.

“So,” Dean said as he helped load the dishwasher, “Should we talk about last night?”

Castiel paused while scrubbing at the waffle iron and turned to look at the other man. Dean looked anxious, he probably assumed Castiel was going to have changed his mind once the alcohol had worn off.

“There’s not much to talk about really, Dean.” he said, wiping his hands on a dishtowel, “Last night we finally realized we’re both attracted to each other and unless you’ve decided that you don’t wish to pursue this any further, I would like to take you on a date as soon as we can find the time.” Castiel had decided that being upfront and direct would be the best way to handle this considering how much time they had already wasted tiptoeing around each other.

Dean sighed audibly and smiled at him softly, walking over to stand next to him. He reached down to grasp Castiel’s hand. “That’s what I want too but I was thinking that we talk about things like, are we going to tell Claire about this or do you want to see where this goes first? I don’t want to confuse her.” Dean said as he brushed his thumb over the back Castiel’s hands.

That was one of the issues Castiel had thought about while eating his breakfast. One of the reasons he didn’t want to date casually like Meg always suggested was he didn’t want to have a stream of strange men coming and going in his life because of Claire. Obviously he didn’t see Dean this way but whether to tell Claire right away is still an issue.

“I think I would like to keep this quiet for the moment. Not that I’m of the opinion that we won’t work out,” he added quickly, not wanting Dean to jump to conclusions, “I just think it would be better considering Claire is very young so an abrupt change could be confusing for her. Also I’m afraid she might tell everyone she met that you are my boyfriend and I’m worried that you might lose your job because of it.” Castiel leaned his head onto Dean’s shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s another issue we’ll have to deal with if this gets serious but,” he said as he kissed Castiel on the cheek, making him blush, “I think we don’t have to worry about that right now. As long as we don’t go screaming up and down the streets that we’re dating, we’ll be fine.” Dean pulled him into a hug.

Castiel hummed in contentment, just absorbing the feeling of being held. “So it’s settled then, we’ll hold off telling Claire for now, which unfortunately means no PDA in front of her.” He extracted himself out of Dean’s arms reluctantly. Dean nodded in agreement, a fake pout on his face.

“Come on, Mr. Grumpy. Let’s get dressed and start digging out the cars.” Castiel suggested as he padded off towards the stairs with Dean trailing behind.

 

An hour and a half later found all three of them trooping back inside after cleaning the driveway and the sidewalks, well Castiel and Dean handled the snow removal while Claire made snow angels, but it had been fun nonetheless. Castiel had told his daughter to go pick out a movie to watch until lunch time and she scampered off to rummage through the movie shelf while he started to peel off his coat. Dean didn’t move to remove any of his winter wear.

“I’m going to guess you’re headed home?” Castiel quietly, not wanting Dean to go. 

Dean nodded reluctantly, “Yeah, It’s about time I got out of your hair but don’t worry I’ll be back.” He smiled that smile that Castiel all tingly. Castiel took a quick glance down the hall, he could hear Claire singing along loudly with some children’s show on the TV, before turning back to Dean with a calculating smirk.

“I suppose it would be rude to send you home without at least one more kiss to keep you warm.” he said as he reached out to grab Dean’s jacket and started pulling him in.

“Yeah, I am feeling a bit chilly.” Dean murmured. They were close enough that Castiel could feel the other man’s lips brushing his as he talked. Smiling, Castiel closed the distance between them.

Just like last night, Castiel was amazed at how good it felt to kiss Dean and just like last night, the chaste goodbye kiss slowly gained heat. Dean slid his hands down to grip his waist and pull his hips in closer while Castiel’s hands went to the other man’s hips so that they were flush from their chests to their knees. Dean’s hips had just started up an almost imperceptible rocking motion that Castiel was completely fine with when there was a sudden blast of cold air shortly followed by a female voice saying…

“Well, isn’t that an interesting sight.”

They froze and turned towards the now open door where Meg stood with her arms folded, smirking with one eyebrow raised in amusement. All the blood that had been headed south a minute ago immediately reversed directions and rushed to Castiel’s face.

“Hello Meg” Castiel said as Dean backed away and rubbed his neck nervously. “I forgot you were coming over today.” Meg entered the foyer and looked Dean up and down slowly, obviously checking him out. She smiled in approval.

“I can see why it must’ve slipped your mind.” Meg chuckled, holding a hand out to Dean. “Hi, I’m Meg, Castiel’s best friend. I’m going to take a wild guess and say you’re Dean the hot nanny.”

Dean blushed an even deeper shade of red and shook her hand. “Um, that would be me, I guess.” There was a moment of extremely awkward silence. “So, I’ve got to go now. It was nice to meet you.” Dean continued, obviously trying to escape the vortex of awkward they were all currently in. “I’ll text you later, Cas?” Castiel was somewhat envious of the other man’s ability to escape.

“Yes, I’ll talk to you later. Drive safe ok?” Castiel said smiling reassuringly. Dean returned his smile and, after grabbing his bag, left. Leaving him alone with his best friend, who just walked in on him making out with his nanny in the doorway. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself for the teasing of a lifetime, he turned to Meg. She just stared at him with a mischievous gleam in her eye but said nothing.

“Well, come on Meg. Get it out of your system.” he said wearily.

There was a second of quiet before Meg doubled over with laughter. She was laughing so hard she dropped her bag and had to clutch her stomach. Castiel crossed his arms over his chest and watched her with a tired expression, waiting for her wheezing giggles to stop. Eventually she was able to gain control and with a deep breath, stood up to look at him.

“There just aren’t words to express how hilarious that was; you looked like a pair of horny deer in the headlights.” she giggled, wiping at the laughter induced tears in her eyes. “When I asked you about wanting to bang the nanny Clarence, I never in a million years thought you would actually bang the nanny. Nice work by the way, he’s absolutely gorgeous.” She kicked off her shoes and walked down the hall, leaving Castiel to follow her.

“We didn’t do..that. He stayed the night, in the guest room.” he stressed before continuing “There were no shenanigans.” Castiel said as Claire raced over to give Meg a hug before going back to her movie.

Castiel looked at the clock and, seeing that it was almost lunchtime, started making some sandwiches. Meg settled herself at the table, watching him closely.

“Obviously something happened last night to make it perfectly reasonable for you to swap spit with your nanny.” she shot back at him. “Come on, you’ve got to tell me. It’s my right as a best friend.” Sighing, Castiel took Claire’s sandwich out into the living room. He didn’t usually allow her to eat in the living room but made an exception so he could talk to Meg without little ears present.

Two turkey sandwiches, half a bag of chips and a couple of glasses of soda later, Castiel had given Meg all the details of what happened between Dean and him last night. All the details; because she was right, Meg’s role as best friend did entitle her to the dirty details as well as the factual ones.

“Well, what do you think? Do you think it’s going to work out?” Castiel asked nervously toying with a napkin. A part of him wanted Meg’s reassurance that he wasn’t crazy to think a relationship with Dean was possible.

Meg gave him a searching look before popping a chip in her mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “I can’t really tell you that, I hardly know the guy aside from what you’ve told me,” she said causing Castiel to feel tiny bit of anxiousness seep in to invade the happy bubble he’d been in all morning.

“But,” she continued, obviously sensing his distress, “I can tell you that you haven’t been this into a person since...ever. You’re practically glowing Clarence.” she teased “So stop worrying and just give this thing a chance to grow before you start your doom and gloom crap” Castiel scowled at her and mumbled something about how he’d show her glowing but in all honesty she had made him feel better. 

“You’re probably right, I just need to see what happens.” he conceded as he started cleaning up the remains of their lunch.

“Of course I am. Now that we’ve dealt with your relationship anxiety, let’s discuss the more important topic of you making out like a teenager on your couch.” Meg replied, leaning back in her chair and fixing him with an expectant stare.

Castiel chuckled. It was going to be an interesting afternoon.


	15. Chapter 15

Despite the awkward incident at the front door on his way out, Dean was still coasting on the high from the combination of the evening spent on the couch with Cas and the morning spent with Cas and Claire when he let himself into his apartment. He set his bag down on the couch and went to his room. After choosing to take a decidedly _relaxing_ shower, since recent events proved that Cas probably wouldn't begrudge him a little fantasy here and there, he started gathering up his laundry. 

His phone beeped while he was loading the washer and, thinking it might be a text from Cas, he lunged to grab it off the counter. The text turned out to be from Charlie claiming that she had finally found a creep free dating site and was on her way over to help him make his profile. He stared at the text realizing he was going to have to tell Charlie about last night which also meant he was going to have to reveal his dating site shame from the other day. Groaning in anticipated humiliation, he sent a quick text telling her that he'd leave the apartment door unlocked for her then finished starting his laundry. 

_She is totally going to rag on me_ , he thought morosely to himself, _after she takes a moment to stop laughing at me_. He continued to tidy the living room after turning on the TV to break up the quiet of his apartment. That was one thing that had really started to bug him recently, how quiet his apartment was.

When Charlie did finally show up, she burst through the door toting a large duffle bag that she proceeded to drop on his coffee table. Dean looked up at her quizzically from his chosen lounging area on the couch. 

"I brought my Wii with me," she said in response to his unasked question, "I woke up this morning with the distinct urge to kick your ass at Mario Kart and figured you wouldn't have much going on since the weather is crap." She walked over to his fridge and grabbed a can of soda. Charlie had been coming over to hang out at his place for so long that she didn't find it hard to make herself at home.

Dean was forced to sit up and budge over so the red head could flop down onto the couch next to him. They were both silent as Charlie sipped her drink and they both watched the episode of Buffy that was currently on Dean's TV. It probably would have looked odd to an outsider, Charlie's seeming forgetfulness of her original purpose in coming over, but not finishing an episode of a show like Buffy was unacceptable. Therefore it wasn't until the familiar end credit music started playing before she grabbed his laptop and booted it up. She knew his password of course, trying to hide things from a tech wizard was pointless so Dean didn't even try.

"So I was surfing some online forums last night and I found this site that..." she started to explain, typing furiously on his computer but Dean moved to cut her off. 

He had already decided he was going to try and be as nonchalant as possible. If he played it cool and acted like it wouldn't bother him, maybe Charlie wouldn't tease him too much. He just had to be smooth.

"I made out with Cas last night!" Dean blurted out. 

_Way to be smooth and nonchalant, moron_ , he mentally berated himself. He physically cringed in preparation for the excited screeching that was bound to erupt from the woman a foot away from him and Charlie did not disappoint.

The sound that came out of the red head’s mouth could only be described as a high pitched whistle that quickly became a screech as she smacked him on the shoulder repeatedly.

“Sweet Lord of the Rings! Seriously?! How did it happen? Who made the first move? Was it hot? I bet it was hot.” she babbled almost incoherently. Dean was starting to worry she might hyperventilate.

“Calm down Charlie. I can’t tell you how it happened if you don’t stop trying to take out my hearing.” Dean said irritably with his hands over his ears. Once his friend fell silent he started to spill his guts.

 

“So you basically admitted to be an internet creeper and that somehow got you a make out session with a hot dad?” Charlie mumbled around a mouthful of cookie.

They were vegging on the couch, eating whatever junk food they could scrounge from Dean’s cabinets and analyzing every detail from the night before and this morning. Charlie had listened to the story with rapt attention, only interrupting to ask that he spare her when he started to go into a little too much detail about the actual couch make out. 

“I love you Dean but I don’t need to hear about Cas’ tongue, magic hands or what he may or not be packing down below.” she had explained with a slight grimace before allowing him to continue with the rest of the story.

Dean shuffled awkwardly at Charlie’s embarrassing yet admittedly accurate description of what happened. “Well, it just sounds weird when you put it that way,” he pouted. He reached for the bag of Cheetos on the table and started munching.

“That’s because it is a bit weird. ‘Hey I just happened to find a hot picture of you online’ ‘Hey that’s awesome, here let me stick my tongue down your throat.’” Charlie imitated, she even made her voice extra growly for Cas which caused Dean to smile despite himself. “But hey, how it happened doesn’t really matter, what really matters is that it did.” she continued, “And I’m glad to hear that he wants a relationship with you. You deserve to have a nice guy in your life.”

It seemed like the “bash Dean’s ego” portion of the conversation was over with that heartfelt sentiment. Sometimes Charlie was a major pain in his ass, hounding him to do things he didn’t want to and calling him on his bullshit but she really did care what happened to him. 

“I’m glad too but one thing that makes me worry is the teeny tiny fact that, oh, Cas is my boss.” Dean replied, running a hand through his hair and tugging at it a bit in his worry.

Despite the fact that he had told Cas not to worry, he was actually pretty concerned about it. Not really due to the fact that he would probably get fired from the agency if they were found out but because, in the event that this got serious, he wouldn’t be able to nanny for Claire anymore. He had grown to really care for Claire and now he wouldn’t want to trust anyone but himself with watching her but he also would feel weird to continue being her nanny since that would entail being paid by his boyfriend. He explained this to Charlie who seemed to mull over the conundrum for a minute while eating another cookie.

“Well, if you want my opinion,” she said after swallowing her cookie, “Which you obviously do, I agree with what you told Cas. Why worry about something that you can’t do anything about yet? I mean, a new relationship has enough worries without throwing that mess in so you guys should focus on finding out if you’re actually couple material first before working yourselves up about the rest of it.” And with that final zen thought, she went back to digging around in the cookie jar.

Dean was honestly shocked at how serious Charlie was being, most of their conversations involved her making fun of him being a dork or making snarky quips. Maybe she was serious about this finding him someone permanent thing and maybe she was right about the not worrying thing.

He leaned his head back on the couch and sighed. “I guess you might be right, this time.” He was quick to specify this was a once in a lifetime admission so that she didn’t use it against him later.

Charlie snorted. “I’m right all the time, handmaiden.” she said, causing Dean to smack her in the head with a pillow. This was the beginning of an epic pillow fight that was soon transferred to an even more epic Mario Kart battle. They hung out for most of the day but eventually Charlie had to leave. On her way out of the apartment she clapped him on the shoulder and reminded him to relax and enjoy the ride in regards to his budding relationship with Cas.

“Don’t overthink everything, alright? I’m sure Cas finds you just as adorable as I do.” she teased, pinching his cheek before flouncing away. Dean grinned as he shut the door. 

Sitting back down on the couch, he started flipping through the channels on TV trying to find something to was when he remembered he had told Cas he would text him. Dean grabbed his phone off the coffee table and sent a quick text.

TO Cas: Hey sorry I took so long to text. Spent the day being made fun of by Charlie. :p

Cas was quick to respond. Dean smiled like a goofball at his phone and settled in for what he hoped was a nice long chat.


	16. Chapter 16

Meg eventually decided she had harassed him enough for one day and so she and Claire had a tea party to discuss the very important things that Claire had done outside in the snow. This left Castiel free to catch up on a few emails he may have neglected the other day during his worry bout at work while they had some girl time. He had noticed that Claire really seemed to enjoy having a female influence now that Meg came over once a week which made sense considering that the only other woman in her life was their neighbor Jody. 

_Maybe I should think about setting up some play dates for her so she can get more socialization_ , he mused while watching his daughter sip imaginary tea and 'gossip' with his best friend. _Once I know how to do that that is, maybe Dean knows._

Speaking, or rather thinking, of Dean, the other man had yet to text him causing Castiel to start worrying like a teenager again. What if Dean had time to think about what a bad idea it was to get involved with his boss? Maybe he realized it wasn't worth it and was going to break it to him on Monday.

_Stop acting like a whiny kid, everything is fine_ , a voice sounding remarkably like Meg's interrupted his out of control thought train just like the real Meg would have if she were a mind reader. The Meg voice was right as usual, he needed to relax. 

So with that settled he decided to take the opportunity to get some chores around the house he had been putting off in order to occupy himself. By the time he was done, Meg announced she had to get going, something about having a hot date later. She gave Claire a loud smooch on the cheek in farewell, making the little girl giggle and squirm before gathering her things.

"Some of us have to go out to find a man, we can't all be lucky enough to have them dropped into our laps, right Clarence?" she said with a smirk as he saw her out of the house. Since Claire was in the other room, he took the opportunity to flip Meg off jokingly in response to her jab.

"Not anymore big guy," Meg called over her shoulder as she walked to her car, "But I think you've got someone else who's up for the job." Grinning and shaking his head, Castiel shut the front door and went to the kitchen to start supper for him and Claire.

 

Later that evening, after he had put his daughter to bed and settled on to the couch to watch some mindless TV, his phone pinged. Despite his mental claims that he was not worried, a wave of relief washed over him when he saw who it was from.

FROM Dean: Hey sorry I took so long to text. Spent the day being made fun of by Charlie. :p

Castiel chuckled. So Dean had a friend who took the opportunity to make fun of him too, at least he wasn't alone then. Though the other man probably had guessed that after the disaster at the door this morning. Definitely not one of his finer moments but not the worse thing he's ever been caught doing.

TO Dean: I can understand that, as you probably can guess after this morning, Meg didn't let me off the hook easily.

He attempted to get comfortable on the couch again but between his impatience on waiting for another text and the memories of just exactly what he and his texting partner had been up to on this couch last night, he was unable to sit still. Maybe a change in location would help. He decided that he could grab his laptop and go work in his room so he made his way upstairs after locking up the house, double checking on Claire on his way down the hall. When he finally was settled in his room with his laptop, his phone finally pinged. It was Dean again. 

FROM Dean: Oh, I’ll bet. I had to give Charlie all the details, well not all the details, I kept some to myself ;)

Oh, it’s going to be like that is it? he thought smugly to himself. He had always suspected Dean would be a flirt. Castiel wasn’t the best at it, sometimes he couldn't tell when he was even being flirted at, but he could play along. It took him a minute to decided how he wanted to respond.

TO Dean: Funny that you should mention that, I wasn’t able to sit on the couch and watch TV tonight because all I could think of were those...details.

There that was somewhat flirty wasn’t it? It was also the truth, even away from the scene of the crime so to speak, that was really all that he could think about. It also had him thinking on his decision to take things slow with Dean, it definitely was a good idea but it raised the question of how they were going to define slow. If he was being completely honest with himself, he really hoped that the answer wasn’t too slow. It had been a long time since Castiel had been with someone, there were two attempts at dating when Claire was very young but they had both fallen through, and he missed it. Not just the actual sex part, which he most definitely missed, but little things like sleeping in the same bed as someone. His phone pinged again.

FROM Dean: You too huh? I can understand that, I am unforgettable, lol.

Castiel rolled his eyes fondly. He had a feeling he was going to grow to like Dean even more now that the other man was beginning to relax. He seemed much more relaxed and himself now that cat was out of the bag.

TO Dean: I must be pretty unforgettable too considering you remembered finding my picture, haha

This was actually pretty fun. Normally he wasn’t very into texting, preferring to talk on the phone, but it didn’t seem too bad. Opening a spreadsheet, he started to actually get some work done which was definitely a good thing considering how distracted he had been of late. If he dropped too far behind, Naomi would have his ass. Another ping announced another text from Dean.

FROM Dean: I’d say I regret telling you about that but then you wouldn’t have jumped me last night and then there wouldn’t have been any...details, besides can you blame me that pic was extremely hot

Castiel could feel himself blushing and was glad that they were flirting over the phone so Dean couldn't see how flustered he was. 

TO Dean: That was Meg's reason for posting it, she said it would lure in a hot date for me.

Dean was quick to respond. Castiel saved and closed his work. No use in pretending he was going to focus on it.

FROM Dean: It certainly lured me in, lol, and speaking of hot dates, when will we be having ours? ;)

Castiel froze. He hadn't actually thought about where he would take Dean for their first date. What would be a good activity for a first date? A movie and dinner would be simplest but seemed too cliche and considering the time of year, there wasn't much going on with all the snow and...

Oh. That idea had some potential. It was simple but pretty unique so it could work out to be very memorable. He was lost in his thoughts when his phone pinged again.

FROM Dean: I'm sorry if I was being pushy, we don't have to go out right away or anything.

He smiled at the other man's nervousness and made his decision. Castiel had a feeling that Dean would really like his idea.

TO Dean: Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easy. Haha. Tell me Dean, have you ever been to an ice festival?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one seems short to me but it absolutely refused to surrender quietly so I'm glad to have wrangled this much


	17. Chapter 17

Dean had never had a week pass by so slowly before. Ever since Cas had asked if he wanted to go to the ice festival with him next Saturday, it seemed like time had slowed down to a turtle’s pace. Or considering the time of year and where they were going for their first date, like molasses in an igloo.

Luckily he was able to keep himself occupied during the week. Claire had been especially rambunctious; Dean thought it had something to do with the continued presence of snow. It had snowed off and on all week so there was still plenty of the white stuff outside. They made it a ritual to go outside and build some snowmen everyday, Dean had bought a bunch of cheap hats at the dollar store so they could dress them all. Cas had jokingly commented that he had a snowman army in his backyard. 

“Jody is going to start thinking I’m attempting a snowman fueled world domination.” he had said on Wednesday while he and Dean were squeezing in a quick conversation before the nanny had to go home for the night. They tried to at least take a few minutes to chat before Dean left every night but they also had silently agreed that during the week Dean was Claire’s nanny and nothing more so they kept the conversations almost purely professional. This seemed to assuage both of their worries about the whole employer/employee situation. 

They did exchange texts in the evening but they weren’t as much about flirting as their first conversation had been and more about getting to know each other. Dean learned some basics about Cas like how his family was very distant and no one really talked to each other and smaller things like how he enjoyed learning about bees.

FROM Cas: I’m sure you’re thinking I’m a huge nerd but bees are very important to the environment Dean. Did you know that some flowers actually evolved because of bees?

Dean chuckled at the text, he could vividly imagine Cas being all earnest and concerned about the bees. It was adorable. He was pretty sure he was going to be dating someone who was a bit of a dweeb but it was just one of the many traits that drew him to the other man.

As the week slowly started to end he began to start thinking about their upcoming date and just a little bit of nerves started creep in. The bad kind, the kind that had him thinking about how he might make himself look like an idiot in front of Cas at random points in the day. He attempted to brush these aside. Cas didn’t seem to be plagued by these worries so he resolved to do the same.

 _Besides, it’ll be fine_ , he thought to himself, _it’s a date to a fair, you’ve had dates to fairs before._

 

Friday evening found Dean panicking in his living room.

Dean had never actually been to the ice festival and had to have Cas tell him about it. Apparently it was a winter themed fair that was held every year in late January. Dean had asked what they would be able to do there but Cas said he wanted to keep it secret so that it could be a surprise. He even made Dean promise not to Google the event which he had agreed to. 

_A little mystery could be fun_ , he had told himself on Monday when Cas had made his Googling request.

Now that the big event was a mere few hours away, he was starting to regret his promise and his lack of attention towards events that happened in the city on a yearly basis. If he had just paid attention to his surroundings, he wouldn’t be in this mess. Dean didn't like to be in the dark but he also didn't know anything about ice festivals so this put him in a bit of an anxious worry spiral.

He had already completed all his usual Friday chores and half of his Saturday to do list in a flutter of nerves, all the while his mind was running through all his worries about the next day. In the middle of scrubbing the bathroom grout, because that really needed done he'd decided after he ran out of things to do, his phone rang.

Unfortunately, Dean was so deep into his own thoughts and distracted by a particular tough stain that instead of saying "hello" like a normal person does when answering the phone, he blurted out, "What the hell do you even wear on an ice festival date anyway?!"

He hadn't even noticed his slip-up until, after a moment of stunned silence, Sam's blatantly confused voice replied, "Um...can't really say Dean, I don't go on many ice festival dates living in California and all."

Dean dropped his grout scrubbing brush with a clatter. _Oh shit, did I just do what I think I did?_ he thought with shock.

"Dean, are you still there? Why are you asking about ice festival date attire? Sam asked, sounding suspicious, "You never even said you were dating anyone."

 _Double shit. Mr. Future-lawyer is on the alert now_ , Dean's mind reprimanded him. He shifted distractedly to sit in the tub more comfortably while he chose his words carefully. Sam wouldn’t let him off the hook that easily but Dean had to make sure he didn’t blab anything else.

"I may have met somebody," Dean said cautiously, "I didn't want to make a big deal just in case it didn't work, okay?" 

“That’s great!” Sam exclaimed excitedly. “It’s been awhile since you’ve gone out with someone, I was starting to think you were turning into a hermit. So who is it?”

Sending up a brief prayer to the universe asking for luck, Dean told Sam about Cas; he made sure to be pretty vague. He knew Sam being the goody two shoes he was, would almost definitely be appalled that he was dating his boss so he steered clear of that fact like it was the plague. Dean told his brother that he met Cas through Charlie, which was technically true, and that since the other man had a kid, they were taking it slow. Sam seemed to be be slightly suspicious at the obvious lack of details but that was overshadowed by his happiness that Dean was on the dating scene again.

“Well, I can definitely tell you like the guy, I can practically see you glowing through the phone,” Sam teased.

Dean scowled at the phone, despite the fact that Sammy couldn’t actually see it. “I am not glowing.” he pouted into the phone. Sam laughed.

“I beg to differ but anyway back to your original question, now that I have to facts,” Sam replied, “I don’t think it’s going to matter what you wear, Dean. I would suggest that you layer up so you don’t freeze. Unless you plan on letting Cas keep you warm?” Dean could hear the humor in his annoying little brother’s voice.

“Ha ha, bitch.” Dean said, un-amused with his brother’s teasing, “Just you wait until I get a chance to rag on you and Jess, we’ll see who’s laughing then.”

“Yeah, jerk, we’ll see.” Sam shot back. There was a moment of silence where Dean thought he heard a muffled voice in the background before Sam started speaking again, “Hey, I’m going to have to let you go, Eileen and I have a thing tonight with some friends.”

Dean chuckled. “Okay, I’ll talk to you later. You crazy kids have fun doing whatever it is you do.”

Sam said his goodbyes and hung up. Dean sat there staring at his phone fondly for a moment before the guilt started worming its way into his good mood. He had lied to his brother. True it was a lie of omission but he still didn’t like it but what choice did he have? Sam would freak out if he knew he was dating his boss and mostly likely hound him about it, and quite frankly Dean didn’t want to worry about that at the moment. It had been a long time since he’d had a chance to meet someone perfect who actually wanted him back so it couldn’t be such a bad thing that he wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.

Besides, the more confident and optimistic part of his mind argued, there’s got to be an easy solution to the boss/employee issue, we just haven’t thought of it yet.

Resolving to be positive, Dean slipped his phone into his pocket and started to crawl out of the tub. He needed to get ready for bed; he had a hot date tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay but this chapter was driving me nuts, I had to scrap it at least three times. I'm still sort of blah about it to be honest but it's way better than it was before.


	18. Chapter 18

“Calm the hell down Clarence,” Meg drawled, “You’d think you had never been on a date from the way you’re acting which, I know from first hand experience, is untrue.”

He paused halfway through the route he was pacing around the living room to glare at his friend. Meg was currently sprawled out on his couch flipping through the TV channels trying to find something to watch. She had agreed to watch Claire for him this afternoon while he went on his date with Dean to the ice festival, something which he was grateful for but at the moment she was definitely not helping soothe his pre-date nerves.

“It’s not totally unreasonable for me to be nervous about going on my first date in about two years,” Castiel snapped. He had continued his pacing but paused again in front of the mirror on the wall to scrutinize his appearance. The dark blue sweater he was wearing was probably too casual for a first date but since he would be wearing his coat the whole time he didn’t see the logic in wearing a button up and a tie. Reaching up towards his bird’s nest of hair, Castiel tried to force it into something more presentable.

“Everything will be fine.” Meg said briskly back as she decided on some housewives of some city show, “You and nanny-boy will go to the fair, see all the sculptures, eat some fair food and generally be adorable. Now stop fidgeting with your hair, you look sexy.”

Castiel was just about to start arguing when he heard the distinct sound of Dean’s beloved car pulling into the driveway.

 _Oh god, he’s here_ , he panicked, _but I’m not ready yet!_

His stricken face and frozen posture must have tipped Meg off to his panicked state because she extracted herself from the couch and walked over to where his jacket was hung over the armchair.

“That sounds like prince charming now,” she said, smirking as she forced his coat and gloves into his hands, “Here put these on. Don’t worry about me and the little munchkin, we’ll make sure to have all the people we invited over for the party out and the house in order by the time you get home.”

Castiel glared at her again while shoving his arms into his coat and walking towards the hall with Meg trailing behind. “Don’t corrupt my child, Meg.” he chided, “I’ll text you when we’re on our way home. Text me if you need anything.” 

There was a knock at the door. After taking a moment to throw on a scarf, he opened the door...only discover that Dean was mid-knock which meant instead of hitting the door, he smacked Castiel in the shoulder. Dean’s green eyes widened in shock. 

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry Cas!” the other man babbled, “I didn’t hurt you did I? I didn’t notice the door was opening.” Dean reached out a hand to gently pat the shoulder he had accidentally hit, his face full of concern.

Castiel laughed. This was exactly what he needed. Something to bring back that sense of ease he experienced around Dean that had almost been lost in the haze of dating jitters.

“I’m fine, Dean,” he answered with a smile, “I’m quite durable and it was obviously an accident, are you ready to go?”

Dean relaxed and flashed a charming smile at him. He looked extremely good, the afternoon light was glinting off the blonde highlights in his short hair and made his green eyes seem even brighter than usual. The overall effect enforced Castiel’s impression that he was dating an Adonis.

“Yep, I’m ready to figure out what all the ice festival mystery is all about. Do you want to drive or should I?” Dean asked as they started down the front steps. Castiel was saying that he would drive since the date was his idea when a shout echoed from the foyer and through the now cracked door.

“Don’t forget to use protection!” Meg exclaimed through the space in the door, “I’m too young to be an aunt again Clarence!” 

They could hear her cackling as she shut the door again. Blushing slightly, Castiel looked at Dean who was laughing at Meg’s sentiment.

“I apologize for Meg, since it’s been so long since I’ve ‘gotten freaky’ as she puts it,” Castiel said, as they got into the car, “She feels the need to be my cheerleader in that regard even though I told her that we had agreed to take things slow. I hope you weren’t offended.” 

He started the car and started pulling out of the drive. Dean chuckled. “It’s okay Cas, I can guarantee you that Charlie would probably have said the same thing. And don’t worry, the thought of you getting freaky doesn’t offend me at all.” Dean winked at him as he said this last statement causing a tingling shiver to shimmy down Castiel’s spine and take up residence in his belly.

Castiel took a moment to thank his lucky stars that the festival was outside in the cold. He was less likely to burst into sexually frustrated flames caused by Dean Winchester in that environment.

 

As usual the festival was very busy but Dean seemed to be having a great time so Castiel was happy. They had already walked through the ice sculptures that were being entered for the competition, all of which were truly amazing. Dean seemed most taken with a life size statue of Batman. Castiel prefered the statue that delicately depicted a little girl picking flowers, it reminded him of Claire. Now they were walking over towards the end of the fair where some of the sculptors were actually working on new pieces. 

They had stopped to look at a young woman who appeared to be extracting a running wolf out of a block of ice when suddenly Dean grabbed his hand and tugged excitedly.

“Holy crap Cas, look!” Dean exclaimed as began pulling him down the line of sculptors, “That chick is using a chainsaw!”

Dean stopped abruptly in front of another woman standing in front of a large chunk of ice wielding a chainsaw but did not stop holding his hand, something that caused a ball of warmth to settle in Castiel’s chest. They stood and watched as the woman expertly used the saw to carve a large bear out of the ice, all the while holding hands.

Once the demonstration was done, Castiel suggested they go find some hot drinks and sit down for a bit. Dean agreed and they walked over to the food booths. They ended up getting hot chocolate and sitting on the bleachers next to the ice rink, sipping their drinks and watching the skaters.

“So, how are you liking your first ice festival Dean?” Castiel asked, taking off his gloves so that he could feel the heat from his cocoa on his hands.

“It’s been awesome. I can’t believe I’ve never been to this before,” Dean replied enthusiastically, “I have to admit though, it’s colder out here than I thought it would be. I should’ve worn a few more layers.” Dean laughed at his error and shrugged as if to indicate that there wasn’t much to be done about the situation now.

 _That is totally an opening_ , his brain supplied, _he totally wants you to make a move!_

At first he wasn’t going to do it, they had decided to take it slow and it was only their first date but he could see Dean shivering slightly and all he wanted to do was draw the other man close. Just to share body heat, honest.

Screwing up his courage, Castiel shifted towards Dean so that their thighs were touching and, after swallowing his nerves, put his arm around Dean’s shoulder.

“I guess I’ll have to keep you warm,” he said in what he hoped was a suave confident tone but what probably sounded more like a nervous teenager putting the moves on his first ever date. Castiel braced himself for the other man to push him away or at least stiffen with discomfort so he was shocked when Dean settled in the embrace with a sigh.

“Oh, quite the gentleman aren’t we, Cas?.” Dean replied playfully as he settled himself more comfortably into his date’s side and rested a hand on Castiel’s thigh. Dean’s hand felt way hotter than it should through his jeans considering the weather but maybe that was Castiel’s imagination. 

Castiel leaned his head to rest against Dean’s and sighed contentedly as they sat and watched the skaters, enjoying each other’s company. If this wasn’t a perfect first date then he didn’t know what was.

 

An hour later they were pulling back into the driveway. Castiel put the car in park and turned it off. There was a moment of awkward silence where they both tried to settle on something to say.

Dean finally broke the stalemate. "I think that was the best first date I've ever been on Cas," he said with a shy smile. 

"Same here, I don't think I've ever had as much fun at the festival. My favorite part was watching the skaters." Castiel replied, flushing slightly at this admission only to have Dean grin slyly at him.

"I can't imagine why," Dean murmured, smirking at Castiel’s confession.

They had been slowly leaning towards each other ever since Dean broke the silence. Castiel was close enough that he thought he could count the freckles that dotted the other man's nose and cheeks. He wondered if Dean had them anywhere else.

"Maybe after another two dates, you can find out for yourself," Dean said, smirking. 

With a jolt, Castiel realized he had said his thoughts out loud. Embarrassed beyond description, he opened his mouth to begin his frantic apology but before he could speak, Dean’s mouth stopped his words.

It took a second for Castiel to catch up with current events but after he had recovered from his shock he began to kiss Dean back, gently plying the other man’s mouth open with his tongue. Dean moaned in approval and reached a hand up to twine his fingers in his hair, something that caused Castiel to groan and redouble his efforts to get as close to Dean as he could within the confines of his sensible car. He slid his right arm between the car seat and Dean’s body to pull him closer even though he desperately wanted to crawl into the other man’s lap, or have Dean in his lap, he wasn’t picky but that wasn’t possible at the moment.

Despite the fact that the car and the heater were off, their combined heat and panting breaths were starting to heat up the car again and fog the edges of the windows. Dean’s hand, the one that wasn’t currently occupied with lightly tugging Castiel’s hair causing sparks of heat to shoot straight to his groin, slowly began to make its way down his side to rest on his hip, Dean’s thumb caressing his hip crease; his hand has agonizingly close to where Castiel really wanted it but still frustratingly far away. Unconsciously Castiel began to mirror this position with his hand on Dean’s hip causing Dean to break the kiss with a gasp.

“Unless your definition of ‘getting freaky’ includes sex in your driveway in the middle of the afternoon,” Dean panted, obviously trying to get himself under control, “we’d better stop now before I drag you into the backseat.” Castiel’s heart was still pounding and it took minute for him to absorb Dean’s words considering most of the blood in his body was currently racing south. He took a minute to appreciate how disheveled Dean looked. The other man’s lips were a bit swollen and arousal dilated his pupils so most of the green was gone; it was a sight Castiel was looking forward to seeing again.

Once he’d slightly collected himself, Castiel nodded. “You’re right,” he huffed, “as much as I want to continue this, sadly this is not the place or time.”

Dean looked at him with a fond expression and reached up to try and put his hair into order but there really wasn’t much he could do, Castiel still looked like he had been ravaged which he had been, slightly.

“Meg is going to make your life miserable for the next couple of days, you look totally debauched,” he chuckled.

Smiling, Castiel grabbed Dean by his jacket and pulled him in for one more kiss and replied with a grin, “Totally worth it though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out waaaay easier than the last one, thank goodness, so hopefully it makes up for the blah-ish one earlier. :)


	19. Chapter 19

A month had passed since Cas had taken him out on their first date to the ice festival followed by that oh so brief make out in the car, which Dean remembered very fondly. Over the last couple of weeks they had fallen into a comfortable routine of texting, phone calls and sharing small lingering touches before and after Dean's shift. It made the situation a bit frustrating, the whole not being able to be all over one another like they both wanted thing, but they were managing.

It's not like they never had chances to just be together. Two weeks after their first date, Dean insisted that he take Cas out so, after getting Meg to babysit Claire, they went on a good old fashioned date; dinner and a movie, complete with necking at the back of the darkened theater. It was then that they realized they both had volume problems.

"Cas," Dean had mumbled into the other man's ear as he nibbled on his neck, causing the man in question to gasp, "you've got to be quiet man, we'll get caught." He could remember hearing the explosions and dramatic music of the random action movie they had bought tickets for. 

"What do you mean, _I_ have to be quiet?" Cas had whispered back between placing opened mouth kisses along his jaw, "you're the one moaning over here."

Dean had been just about to respond indignantly when a swift grope from his date forced a low groan from deep in his chest which had been, thankfully, masked by a particularly loud boom as some building blew up on screen. Cas had chuckled huskily into the crook of Dean’s neck before continuing his ministrations to Dean's jaw.

"That's cheating!" Dean had huffed, pouting for a few seconds before getting back to more important matters, such as drawing Cas' mouth back to his to get better acquainted with the inside of his mouth.

By some miracle they hadn't gotten caught, well not caught by anyone at the theater that is. Meg had taken one look at their shifty faces after she had asked about the movie and rolled her eyes.

"Silly me, why would I ask how the movie was?" Meg had scoffed as she got ready to leave, "I should be asking if the back of the theater was crowded, what with all the other horny teenage couples that were back there with you. I bet you guys blended right in."

It had been embarrassing to be called out for acting like teenagers but they hadn't really cared. It had been a nice, albeit slightly frustrating in a sexual sense, but Dean was starting to think all the frustration was going to pay off in a good way when they finally got the chance to go to the next level. The next level with Cas was something Dean spent a good deal fantasizing about but apparently he wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

Yesterday Cas had stopped him on his way out and indicated he wanted to talk; since Claire was firmly attached to some show on the television, they slipped out to the front step for a minute. He seemed to be nervous about something and kept tugging at the sleeves of the jacket he had thrown on. It was starting to get warmer out since spring was approaching but it was still pretty chilly.

“I, um, was wondering,” Cas started babbling, “Jody’s niece is coming to stay with her this weekend and last time she was here, the girls had asked if they could have a sleepover the next time she was up so Claire is going to be there on Saturday night so, um, I was wondering...would you, maybe, want to come over for dinner that night?” He was talking so fast Dean was worried he might pass out from lack of breath and looked like he was afraid Dean was going to punch him or something. There was only one thing for Dean to do about that.

Dean leaned forward and kissed him softly, keeping his lips pressed to Cas’ mouth until he felt the tension ebb in the other man’s body before pulling away.

“I would love to come over for dinner Cas,” he assured him. 

 

Saturday was finally here and now it was Dean’s turn to panic again. He knew exactly where his dinner with Cas was going to lead to tonight and while he was extremely for it, he was still a bit nervous. He was embarrassed to admit it had been quite a while since he had gotten horizontal with anyone. Normally Dean wouldn’t be nervous about sex but this was Cas, he didn’t want to mess anything up, hence the nerves.

Dean was currently staring at his closet and bemoaning the fact that there was obviously nothing in it. 

“Come on Dean, there are plenty of clothes in there. You’re just being too picky.” Charlie assured him from her perch on his bed. She was engaged in some sort of World of Warcraft battle or something on her laptop; Dean wasn’t really paying attention to her even though he had begged her to come over and keep him occupied until his big date with Cas that evening.

“I’m not being picky.” Dean pouted, throwing another t-shirt onto the ever growing reject pile at Charlie’s feet. He glanced at the clock, groaned and pulled his hair in frustration. “Shit, I’ve only got like, an hour, before I have to leave to go to Cas’ and I don’t know what I’m going to wear or had a shower yet.” 

Charlie heaved a heavy sigh and shut her laptop. “Alright, time for the queen to save the day. You,” she said briskly as she pushed him towards the bathroom, “Get a shower. When you get out, you will put on the clothes that I pick out for you...and no arguing.” She emphasized this last point with a stern glare when he opened his mouth to protest. “Now march, handmaiden!”

Dean gathered his bathrobe and towel, grumbling about bossy best friends, but did as he was told. Fifteen minutes later he emerged from the steamy bathroom to find his bedroom empty and the clothes Charlie had picked out sitting on his bed. She had laid out a nice pair of jeans that didn’t have any holes, a plain black t-shirt and a nice green striped button down shirt; there was also a belt, socks and a pair boxer briefs. Charlie hadn’t been kidding when she had said she was going to pick his outfit.

After changing into the outfit, which he had to admit looked really good, Dean splashed a bit of cologne on and brushed his teeth before going out to the living room for a final inspection. Charlie got up from the couch to circle him, eyeing him critically. She untucked the button down from his jeans and unbuttoned the two buttons at the top and then circled him again before stopping in front of him.

“You’re totally going to get some tonight Winchester.” she said nodding her head in approval to his final appearance. 

 

Taking a deep breath, Dean knocked on the Novak’s door. He had brought a bottle of wine at Charlie’s insistence because apparently it was bad manners to show up empty handed. After only a minute Cas was opening the door, looking adorably flustered.

“Hello Dean. I was putting the finishing touches on dinner, I hope you weren’t knocking long.” Cas said hurriedly as he ushered him inside and took his coat.

“It’s fine Cas, I had only knocked once before you opened the door.” Dean reassured him then, remembering the wine, held out his contribution to the evening, “Here, I brought some wine for tonight.”

Cas took the bottle, saying thank you and gestured towards the hall. Since Dean obviously knew the house, he headed towards the kitchen with Cas following behind him. When he entered the kitchen Dean noted the pans on the stove and the two place settings at the table, there were even a couple candles placed in the middle of the table.

“Wow, Cas.” Dean said as the other man walked over to grab two wine glasses from the counter, “You know how to impress a guy.” He was being honest, the little touch with the candles was very romantic.

Cas blushed as he poured their wine. “I just wanted tonight to be perfect. I know having dinner in a kitchen isn’t the most glamorous thing…” 

Dean interrupted what he was sure to be a well thought out apology for being a normal human being with a swift kiss on the cheek and a smile. “This is perfect Cas. You, me, some food and a bit of wine is all we need, the rest is just extras. Now, is there anything I can do to help? You know I like to be useful.”

At first Cas insisted that Dean sit while he dished out the food but Dean eventually wore him down so they both got their dinner placed on the table. Cas had made a delicious looking lasagna with some garlic bread.

“Oh, and I had Meg help me make a pie for dessert. I have to admit if I had made it on my own it wouldn’t have been edible.” Cas added with a smile as they sat down at the table to eat. 

“You had me a pie.” Dean replied with a chuckle.

 

Dinner was only slightly tense. They talked about nothing in particular but Dean could tell Cas was probably just as nervous about tonight as he was, maybe just about as excited too. The food was as appetizing as it looked and when Dean complimented it, Cas blushed again. Dean was really starting to like making the other man blush.

It was Dean’s turn to blush when, after taking a bite of the apple pie, he moaned happily, and loudly. In his defense, it was a truly amazing pie and he really liked pie. Cas stared at him for a moment with an open mouth before looking down at his plate, most likely embarrassed at being caught staring.

Once they were done eating dinner, Dean insisted on helping clean up, arguing that it would be done faster with two sets of hands. They washed the dishes side by side with Cas washing and Dean drying and putting away. After everything was cleaned up, they stood in the kitchen for a minute looking at each other awkwardly. Neither of them was exactly sure what to do now.

Cas suggested they take the remaining wine and go watch some TV which Dean agreed to so soon they were settled on the couch, wine glasses on the table and sitting close together with Cas arm around Dean and Dean’s head resting lightly on Cas shoulder, echoing their position on the ice rink bleachers at the festival. They settled on a cheesy sci-fi movie, one of those ones were the monsters rampaging the town were obviously a guys in a suit running around a tiny model town.

Dean could tell that Cas was paying just about as much attention to the movie as he was which basically equated to zero. He was hyper-aware of Cas’ body heat along his side and every movement the other man made, such as the twitching of the fingers on his shoulder. Every once and awhile out of the corner of his eye, he caught Cas staring at him before quickly looking back at the screen.

_He has to be waiting for you to make a move_ , he thought to himself after half an hour of tension filled non-watching of the movie. _Man up, Winchester._

Forcing down his nerves, Dean turned to look at Cas and rested a hand on his chest. He could feel Cas’ heart pounding beneath his hands and saw that Cas’ breath was speeding up, just like his own was. For a minute they just stared at each other, each of them asking the same silent question. Leaning up, Dean brought his mouth right up to Cas’, waiting for the other man to respond and for a minute they just sat there, sharing air.

Cas closed the distance and finally started kissing him. Dean felt Cas’ other arm move from the armrest of the couch to wrap around his back and to slide a hand up into the hair at the base of his neck. They kissed languidly and unhurriedly for a while, each letting out small gasps and moans but eventually the angle was making Dean’s neck hurt so, after gathering his courage, he shifted so that he was straddling Cas’ lap.

At first Cas looked shocked mixed with arousal, obviously not sure what he was allowed to touch, but after Dean placed the other man’s hands firmly on his hips giving him the permission he was obviously looking for, they returned to sharing hot opened mouth kisses. Dean wrapped his arms around Cas’ neck and settled in for a nice easy make out session while Cas ran his hands up and down his sides, inciting sparks of heat low in his belly. 

How long they sat there kissing, sometimes taking a break to breathe and press kisses to each other necks, Dean wasn’t sure but one thing he did know was that his whole body was starting to thrum with arousal and he felt like he might explode. A chest deep groan was pulled out of Cas when Dean squirmed in his lap and inadvertently rubbed their crotches together which Dean, embarrassingly, responded to with a low whimper. Dean broke the kiss with a gasp.

“Cas, as much as I enjoy a heavy make-out on this couch, please tell me this is going to end with an invite to your bedroom.” he panted between kisses, his hips starting to twitch slightly in an unconscious search for friction.

“Yes,” Cas gasped, his hands gripping Dean’s hips tightly out of reflex and nibbling on his neck.

“We should,” Dean groaned in response to Cas’ ministrations, “Maybe move there, now.” He was going to lose his mind if they didn’t get somewhere more comfortable immediately. Cas was driving him crazy with his hot mouth and hands, everywhere they touched him Dean’s skin was burning in the best way.

Apparently Cas agreed with this sentiment because he nudged Dean off of his lap and started to drag him towards the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okie dokie lovely people. I know that you probably want to smack me for stopping here but this is part of my smut solving problem. I sometimes I feel like this story is too fluffy for smut but it sort of fits at the same time so I'm going to post the smutty part in a completely separate chapter. If you want to read it, feel free but if not, you'll still be able to follow the story when I post the chapter after the smutty one.  
> Also I wanted to thank everyone for the comments and I would love to chat with those of you who are speculating how this is all going to turn out but unfortunately I am terrible at keeping secrets so I am forced to keep my silence for now. :)


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is the smutty chapter. Hopefully if you're reading this you've already read the previous chapter otherwise this will make no sense.
> 
> I also hope that this smut is not so cringe inducing that you never want to read my writing again.

Castiel had never been more happy to see his bed, well at least for the two seconds he saw it before he and Dean crashed onto it.

The easy pace of the make-out downstairs quickly evaporated as soon as they were stretched out on the bed, this time with Dean underneath him. Cas settled into the space Dean made for him between his legs and began to devour Dean’s mouth. He groaned as the other man shifted, drawing attention to just how hard they both were. 

“Clothes off.” Dean growled, tugging at Castiel’s shirt and slacks.

Sitting back on his heels, Castiel unbutton his shirt with shaky hands while Dean struggled to do the same beneath him so once he removed his shirt, he reached down to help the other man with his buttons. He helped Dean to maneuver out of his button down and slowly slid the t-shirt underneath over his head. Castiel was transfixed by all the tan skin that was revealed by this action and was immediately distracted with running his hands over Dean’s torso reverently as well as nipping and sucking his way down to the other man’s belt. 

Dean’s gasp and moans, which had been growing louder the closer Castiel got to his jeans, changed to a groan of relief when he started to undo his belt and unzip his jeans, freeing other man’s erection from confinement. Castiel had been fantasizing for weeks about what lay underneath the low slung jeans his nanny wore so he quickly gripped the material at Dean’s hips and pulled off the pants and underwear in one swift motion so that Dean’s hard cock bobbed free.

Castiel took a moment to appreciate how hard and thick the other man’s erection was before his own hardness throbbed, reminding him that he was still uncomfortably trapped in his own pants. Sensing his discomfort, Dean reached down to undo his slacks and Castiel gasped when the other man’s hand brushed against his cock as he helped to remove his clothes. It felt amazing and that was through the barrier of his boxers. 

After shucking off his boxers, Castiel laid himself so he was covering Dean’s body with his own and pulled him into a scorching kiss, hands roaming and trying to map every inch of Dean’s skin. Dean’s hand slid down to grip his ass and pull their hips flush together. They both moaned when their cocks slid together and they began to rock their hips. The friction was mind-blowing and Castiel knew that if he kept this up, everything would be over way too soon.

“Dean,” he gasped, trying to stop from rutting against the other man, “If this is going to go anywhere, we had better get on with it. It’s been a long time for me, I won’t last long.” It was embarrassing to have to admit but after what happened downstairs, Castiel felt like he was on a hair trigger just like the damn teenager Meg was always saying he acted like around Dean. 

Dean chuckled as he made a visible effort to still his own hips and grinned up at Castiel. “Well, good then it’s not just me, how about we do this.” He reached a hand down between their bellies and grasped both of their cocks in his fist. Castiel moaned, dropping his head on Dean’s shoulder. That felt amazing.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Dean laughed as he began to stroke them in tandem. They were both so wet the slide of his fist and cock against his own was perfect.

“Oh, god.” Castiel choked out, his hips thrusting up into the channel Dean made for them with his hand. The heat in his groin was growing and he was so hard it almost hurt.

“Yeah, that’s it Cas.” Dean encouraged, moving his hand up and down. “Come on, fuck my fist.”

They writhed against each other, rutting together, trying to be a close as possible while chasing their release. Castiel leaned down to thrust his tongue into Dean’s mouth, drawing a moan of approval from the other man, and ravaged his mouth while his hips jerked desperately downwards into Dean’s hand.

Castiel knew he was racing towards the edge at an incredibly fast pace and he wanted Dean to be there too. Shifting over so he was resting his weight on one arm, he reached his own hand down join Dean’s. Dean gasped, breaking the kiss, and his hips jerked upwards frantically.

“Cas!” Dean shouted, speeding up his hand on their dicks, Castiel matching his pace. They were both riding that edge, almost teetering over into that abyss. Castiel’s hips were bucking frantically, he wasn’t going to be able to hold off much longer, it had been too long since someone else had touched him like this. He needed to come.

“There you go, I can feel how close you are,” Dean panted, “It’s alright Cas, come, come for me.” 

And that was is it. One final thrust against Dean and Castiel came, eyes screwed shut against to the wave of pleasure that washed over him, Dean’s answering groan in his ear as the other man came shortly after him, covering them both with their combined release. Dean worked them through the aftershocks before Castiel’s shaking arms forced him to collapse next to him.

They lay there panting and covered with sweat and come for a moment before Castiel reached over for some tissues to clean them both up. After throwing the used tissues in the trash can, Castiel settled himself on the bed next to Dean and drew the sheets over them. Dean turned over to curl into Castiel’s side. He seemed nervous.

“So, um, is it alright if I stay?” Dean asked hesitantly, not quite meeting Castiel’s eyes.

“Of course you can stay, I was hoping you would but afraid to ask in case you might not want to.” Castiel replied, pulling Dean in and placing a kiss on his sweat damp hair, “Besides, I’m nowhere near to being done with you yet.”

Dean relaxed and chuckled lowly, “Promises, promises Cas.”


	21. Chapter 21

Despite their agreement to take a short nap and then partake in round two, Dean didn’t wake up again until the sun was already up. It took him a minute to realize where he was because he knew for certain he wasn’t in his own bed and that the line of heat pressed up to his bare back was Cas but once he had his bearings, he took a moment to enjoy the feeling. He missed waking up next to another person and, since he was in the privacy of his own mind, he liked being held. Cas had an hand latched almost possessively over his hip and this unconscious action did funny things to Dean's insides.

Last night had been awesome. Sure they had only gotten to rutting around and it was over pretty quickly but it had felt amazing. He had been blown away by how hot Cas was in bed, it was a sight that shot Dean’s wildest fantasies out of the water. Dean had a feeling that Cas would be a total animal between the sheets when he was at the top of his game. His shower fantasy folder had just gotten so much new material though hopefully he wouldn't need that particular folder in the future because he would have access to the real deal.

Dean lay there for what he figured was a half an hour, just absorbing the feeling of Cas pressed up behind him and the puff of Cas’ breath at the back of his neck, before he became aware of Cas starting to stir behind him. At first it was just a change in breathing and a few shuffling movements but then a mouth started pressing lazy kisses to the side of his neck.

“Good morning, Dean,” Cas rumbled into his shoulder, his voice even more gravelly and deep from sleep. Cas was running a warm hand up and down his side, raising goosebumps on Dean’s skin.

“I’d say someone is definitely having a good morning,” Dean replied playfully as he pressed his hips back to rub his ass into Cas’ crotch, where the other man was showing all the signs of a good morning. Dean fully planned on making it a great morning if he had anything to say about it. 

Turning around so that he could face Cas, Dean drew him in for a lazy kiss, morning breath be damned. Cas hummed contentedly and, after a minute of kissing, rolled them over so that Dean was sprawled on top of him and slowly slid his hands down to rest on Dean’s ass, gently kneading the muscles there. Dean moaned lightly into the kiss in approval which seemed to be a signal to Cas to squeeze his hips and pull them down to be flush with his own, highlighting the fact that they were both pretty interested in the proceedings but both seemed content with passing languid kisses back and forth for the moment.

All too soon Cas was breaking the kiss and turning to look at the clock on his bedside table. He sighed and flopped his head back on his pillow, a slight look of disappointment on his face. Dean had a feeling that their alone time was going to be running out soon.

“I take it we don’t have enough time for that round two somebody promised me last night,” Dean teased, pillowing his head on Cas’ chest. He felt more than heard the other man chuckle.

“Well I suppose it depends on what you wanted for round two,” Cas answered. He was drawing aimless patterns on Dean’s back with his fingers. It had a strangely calming effect that almost started to lull Dean back to sleep. “Since I’m horrible at hiding my intentions, Jody shrewdly suggested that I could come over and collect Claire whenever I’m ‘ready’ so we don’t have to worry about being interrupted but it wouldn’t be fair to Jody to make her watch Claire all day.”

This time it was Dean who turned to look at the clock, it was just a little before eight. That would be enough time for a shower and breakfast; and if that shower happened to be a joint one...well that would just help them save time and water, right? He suggested this gameplan to Cas who agreed vehemently and promptly pulled Dean out of bed and into his spacious shower.

One extremely long and satisfying shower later, during which Dean came to really really appreciate the cushiony shower mats Cas had in his shower (for their ability to prevent slipping, not for any other coincidental benefits obviously), they were in the kitchen making breakfast. Dean informed the other man that he would be making breakfast since Cas made dinner the night before so Cas prepared the coffee while Dean threw together some omelets. They sat at the table, quietly eating their breakfast and enjoying each other’s company.

“So, what will you be doing for the rest of the day?” Cas asked, toying with the remains of his breakfast. Dean took a second to swallow his bite of omelet before responding.

“Well, I guess I’ll just hang around at home. I usually don’t get into much on Sundays,” Dean admitted. His Sundays were usually spent binge watching TV in his pajamas or hanging with Charlie but if he remembered right, Charlie was going to some sort of LARP meeting this afternoon so she had informed him she wouldn’t be stopping by to dig for details on his date.

Cas was still fiddling around with a bit of egg and seemed to be thinking extremely hard about something. He hadn’t really said too much this morning now that Dean stopped to think about it. 

_What if he regretted last night?_

This thought caused Dean’s mind to take off on a super-speed train of worried thoughts which made his stomach start to clench with nerves. Dean was about to ask if something was wrong when Cas finally looked up from his plate and met his eyes. 

“I was thinking, since you don’t have any obligations today, would you like to maybe spend the day here with Claire and I?” Cas asked shyly. “I was thinking it might be time to start getting Claire used to the idea that we are together.”

Oh, well that was the exact opposite of what he had been expecting. Dean asked if he was sure about telling Claire. He didn't want Cas to regret it later and explained this worry to him. The other man was quiet for a moment. 

"Dean," Cas said, reaching across the table to rest his hand over Dean's and looking him in the eye. Those blue eyes were burning into his with sincerity. "I know that our situation is anything but ideal at the moment, what with having to keep what we have quiet, but I haven't been this happy in a long time. You are an amazing man and, since we haven't actually talked about it, I would hope it would be alright with you if I refer to you as my boyfriend."

Dean hadn’t realized how badly he had wanted to hear those last few words until the moment Cas uttered them. Sure they had been technically dating for a little over a month but it made everything seem so much more concrete now that they were going to put a label on it, as silly as that sounds. He usually wasn’t much of a ‘boyfriend’ person, typically preferring ‘partner’ on the few occasions he had dated men, but having Cas ask so seriously to be allowed to call him his boyfriend made that ball of warmth settle in Dean’s chest again.

“Dean? Is everything alright? Did I ask too soon? I thought I was reading the situation correctly.”

Cas’ worried voice finally broke through the pleasant happiness induced fog that had drifted over his mind causing Dean to jump slightly. He hadn’t realized that he still had yet to answer Cas’ question; the poor guy was looking at him with a look of anxiety.

“Oh, sorry Cas,” Dean said sheepishly, feeling a blush start to creep across his face. He reached out to grasp Cas’ hand. The other man must have released his hold on Dean’s hand in order to give him space when Dean had fallen silent. “Of course I don’t mind if you call me your boyfriend, not as long as I get to call you mine.”

He smiled at his boyfriend and squeezed his hand. Cas grinned back and stood up to lean across the table so he could draw Dean in for a scorching kiss.

“Well then, boyfriend,” Cas said with a chuckle, “If you’re done with your breakfast, let’s clean up and head over to grab Claire. We’ve got a date with a lazy, TV-filled Sunday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I would like to apologize for the lateness of this update, this was another one that just seemed like it wanted to fight me the whole time.  
> Second, thank you all for the comments about the last chapter, it was very encouraging to me. I was so nervous about posting it and I was very shocked (in a good way) with how well it was received. So, as always, thank you again for reading. :)


	22. Chapter 22

“Do you know how to set up play-dates Dean?” Castiel asked as he put the finishing touches on dinner one evening.

Ever since that idyllic lazy Sunday, Castiel had insisted that Dean join him and Claire for dinner every night before he went home. It was one of the few ways they found time to spend together that sort of skirted the line they had drawn about Dean being Claire’s nanny during work hours and Dean being his boyfriend after hours. Dean agreed saying that his work day was technically over at six each evening and if he happened to stick around, well that was his personal time ergo his personal business. They still went on the occasional date on the weekends usually by themselves but every once and awhile they brought Claire along and made a day of it. 

Claire seemed to be adjusting to the change in Dean’s status very well. The only difficulty had been explaining that Dean would not be moving in.

“But why not Daddy? Mr. Dean could live here and we would be a big family,” she had asked, looking up at them both with those big eyes as they all sat on the couch. He and Dean had looked at each other helplessly. It was obviously way too early to even think about changing living arrangements even if they weren’t in their unique situation.

“Well, sweetie, this is probably difficult for you to understand but when two grown ups are dating, they can’t just start living together. They have to take time to get to know each other first,” Castiel explained, reaching down to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ears.

“But you do know Mr. Dean, he’s here almost every day,” she pointed out in that slightly sassy matter of fact way children had when explaining something they thought an adult should obviously know. He blamed Meg for that particular attitude, though it was his own fault really, he knew that Meg’s personality was infectious.

Castiel huffed a sigh of frustration. How was he supposed to explain the intricacies of dating to a little girl? He wasn’t supposed to have to worry about explaining dating until she was in high school, well...maybe college. Dean, bless him, jumped in and saved the day.

“You see Claire, if you think about it, I don’t really get to see your dad for very long when I’m here since he’s a work all day so we don’t actually know all that much about each other,” Dean explained. While this was technically untrue since he and Dean talked quite a bit in the mornings and evenings in addition to texting and phone calls, it did seem the best way to stop the argument.

This explanation seemed to quell Claire’s curiosity and they spent the rest of that day watching movies and cartoons. She hadn’t asked about the subject since then though Castiel had noticed she had a habit of asking if Dean would come over all the time so he suspected she hadn’t completely given up on it. He also suspected that her desire to have Dean around was because of the simple fact that she was tired of playing by herself or playing with him; Dean was a new person to force into tea parties. This theory was what led him to his current line of questioning.

Dean turned from setting the table to look at him curiously.

“Uh, I suppose that I do,” he said as he set out the silverware, “I mean I know some other nannies that have kids that are permitted to play with other kids. I could see if any of them wanted to meet me and Claire at the park some day. Why do you ask?” Dean walked over to rest one hip against the counter, crossed his arms and looked at him with a look of interest.

Castiel sighed and turned off the stove so he wouldn’t burn the mac and cheese, again. Dean had been helping him perfect his cooking skills so there were fewer charred pans to clean now that he learned to keep an eye on the stove temperature. He turned to face Dean and mirrored his posture, crossing his arms tightly over his chest anxiously. 

“I’ve been thinking, do you think Claire is lonely?” Castiel asked, unable to keep the worry from creeping into his voice.

Dean’s brows knitted in confusion, “Why would you think that?”

Ever since he had noticed how much Claire enjoyed playing with Jody’s niece that weekend a month ago or how excited she became when Dean or Meg came to the house, Castiel had begun to worry over the fact that Claire really didn’t get to interact with other kids. That she didn’t get to see all that many people once he actually thought about it. 

A part of him had always reasoned that once she started school she would be around all sorts of other kids her age and teachers so he hadn’t worried too much since she only had about half a year until kindergarten. But lately he thought it was possible he hadn’t worried enough. Castiel was starting to think that he might be letting his new relationship with Dean distract him from Claire. He tried to explain this to Dean.

“Oh, Cas,” the other man said as he drew him in for a hug, “A lot of parents’ worry about this sort of thing. It’s not that you’re a bad parent or anything because believe me, I’ve met some awful parents. Despite what TV tries to tell you, there is no manual on how to raise your kid,” Dean rubbed his back, easing some of the tension that Castiel didn’t even realize was there. He breathed in the calming scent of Dean’s cologne. This had been weighing on him for a while now. “If you want Claire to have play-dates with kids her own age, I’ll look into it for you. You’re probably right, it will be good for her to have someone to play with.”

Dean placed a quick kiss on his cheek before releasing him so they could put the food on the table.

“So you don’t think I’m a bad dad for taking this long to realize my daughter is craving playmates who are her own age?” Cas asked. Dean smiled at him and set down the plate of rolls on the table.

“Of course not, you’re a great dad,” he replied as he turned to dig through the cupboard for glasses, “Being a single dad can’t be easy, other parents’ have the same issues and some of them don’t even notice until the nanny or daycare teacher points it out. At least you figured it out on your own.”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right,” Castiel said, reaching a hand out to take two of the glasses from Dean.

“Of course I am,” Dean replied cockily, winking flirtatiously. Castiel rolled his eyes at Dean's antics. He began to turn away but Castiel grabbed him by the shoulder. 

Castiel took a second to just take in the sight of him before pulling his boyfriend for a kiss. Dean was very good at making him feel better. He was already trying to decide on a way to express his gratitude, maybe Meg would be available to babysit tomorrow night even if it was short notice for a Saturday. Once since she had figured out that he and Dean were getting physical, she offered herself as an occasional overnight babysitter, her only stipulation being that he keep her supplied with dirty details so she could live vicariously through him.

“Go tell Claire dinner is ready, smart-ass.”

Dean chuckled and walked towards the stairs. “That may be true but don’t forget, I’m your smart-ass.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Castiel before disappearing up the stairs. Castiel shook his head and laughed.

His boyfriend was such a dork.

 

It wasn’t until later that evening that Castiel had his revelation.

He had just hung up the phone and settled back onto his pillows with a very satisfied sigh. Dean had called him after he had gotten into bed and the call had gotten a bit...steamy. Castiel was still floored at how easy it was for Dean to get him worked up over the phone and he suspected that the other man did it on purpose for kicks, not that Castiel minded, Dean never left him in the lurch.

His mind was experiencing that fuzzy haze, the usual after effect of their phone activities and it caused him to mull lazily over the events of the day as he drifted towards sleep. Right on the brink of sleep, Castiel replayed something Dean had said that evening and bolted upright in bed. 

That was it, that was the solution to the problem.

Castiel rolled over and grabbed his phone. He excitedly tapped out a text to Dean, followed by a message to Meg imploring her to babysit tomorrow night. Hopefully Dean would be free tomorrow afternoon for a chat and if this worked out, he could easily adjust his plans for Dean tomorrow night from a simple thank you evening to a celebratory one.


	23. Chapter 23

To say that Dean was nervous would be a vast understatement, he was practically vibrating in his seat in the booth he'd chosen at the diner. Cas had suggested they meet here for their talk which he had insisted to Dean was going to be great news but despite Cas' reassurances, Dean still couldn't shake the slightly sick feeling in his stomach. In his experience, requests to meet up and talk rarely went well.

It also didn't help that he had gotten to the diner almost fifteen minutes early. He kept anxiously checking his phone for messages from Cas and sipping the coffee he had ordered when he sat down, watching the door. Cas appeared at the door after twenty minutes of this little routine, beaming once he caught sight of Dean.

_Well, if he's that cheerful, maybe this isn't something to get all worked up about_ , his mind reasoned.

"Sorry I'm late, Meg was running late and didn't show up at my house on time," Cas said breathlessly as he took off his jacket and slid into the seat across from him, "Apparently she had a very exciting night out last night but I didn't stop to hear the details, I'm sure she'll fill me in tomorrow."

Dean had just opened his mouth to ask what was going on when the waitress interrupted to ask if they were ready to order. Since was almost lunch time Dean ordered his favorite cheesesteak while Cas ordered a soup and sandwich meal. It felt like an eternity had passed by the time she flounced off towards the kitchen with a cheery promise to have their food out to them in a jiffy. Once she was out of earshot, he pounced on his boyfriend.

"Okay, Cas, I’m dying to know, what is with all the shady we need to talk business?” he asked hurriedly, “Because I know you said not to worry but all this is freaking me out a bit.” He was breathing a bit heavily, partly because of his nerves, partly because he might have forgotten how to breathe properly.

Cas looked slightly sheepish, “I’m sorry Dean, it wasn’t my intention to worry you but I didn’t think this conversation was one to have via text message in the middle of the night.”

Dean’s stomach flipped as his brain latched onto this last statement and he blurted out the first thought to form in his mind.

“Are you breaking up with me?!”

Confusion was written all over Cas’ face. He blinked slowly and reached a hand over the table to grasp Dean’s. 

“Absolutely not,” Cas said, squeezing his hand reassuringly, “I asked you here to talk because I think I found a solution to our relationship issue.”

Relief washed over Dean like a tidal wave. His chest immediately lost the tightness he had been carrying since he opened Cas’ text last night. After basking in the calm for a second, his mood quickly switched to irritation. He leaned over and smacked the other man in the arm, hard. Cas grunted in discomfort.

“You jerk!” Dean said, “Why the hell didn’t you just say that?! I spent all last night and this morning thinking you had decided to break up with me.”

Cas pouted as he rubbed the shoulder Dean had hit but he wasn’t getting any sympathy from him. Serves him right for making him worry all night for nothing.

“I guess I did deserve that, didn’t I?” Cas mumbled, “I truly didn’t mean to worry you. I suppose I should have just waited until this morning to text or call you but I was just so excited.” Cas looked at him earnestly in a way that eerily mirrored Sam’s puppy dog eyes. 

Dean’s annoyance started to fade; he couldn’t stay mad at that face. Obviously Cas didn’t mean to freak him out. The waitress interrupted again to deposit their plates and ask if they needed drink refills before leaving again. After she left, Cas was still staring at him with that slightly dejected look. Dean sighed heavily.

“Okay, okay. Stop with the sad face, I’m not actually mad at you,” Dean admitted with a small smile, “Now can we finally get to your big solution to our employer/employee problem.”

Cas grinned right back at him, looking like he could barely contain his excitement and blurted out, “I’m going to enroll Claire in a preschool program!”

Of all the possible things that Dean suspected Cas would say, enrolling Claire in preschool was not one of them. It was actually a pretty simple solution and Dean was surprised he had never thought of it before. This would actually solve two problems: their worries about their relationship being discovered by the wrong people and Cas’ worries about Claire being lonely. 

“So I’m assuming the plan would be for Claire to go to preschool which would mean she could be around other kids her age and I would get another nanny gig?” Dean asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. His appetite had returned with a vengeance now that he wasn’t freaking out anymore and that meant he realized just how hungry he was. 

Cas swallowed his mouthful of food before answering. “Obviously I wouldn’t make any decisions without talking to you about it since, if we choose to go through with this, you would have to find a new position but yes, that about sums it up. So what do you think?”

Dean reached for his coffee cup and lifted it to his mouth to take a drink, using the action to take a moment to think.

It wasn’t a bad idea to be honest. Signing Claire up for preschool definitely seemed like the best option, even if it meant that he would have to dive back into the nanny job pool. He loved taking care of Claire but he knew that if they went with this route, he would be able to be more involved in Cas and Claire’s lives without the fear of being caught dating his almost boss.

“That actually sounds like a really awesome plan Cas,” he answered with a smile. Cas relaxed visibly at this response.

“Oh, I’m so glad you like it, I was worried you might not want to since you’d have to get a new nanny job.”

“Believe me Cas, being able to be with you and be involved in your and Claire’s lives is well worth digging around in the nanny job pool for a bit. Besides,” he reassured the other man, “I’ve always got Charlie to work her magic. She’ll help me rustle up a new gig. So have you thought about a preschool yet?”

They spent the rest of their leisurely meal discussing the details of the plan. Dean shared what he knew of the local daycare's preschool programs from working as a nanny for so long, there were a couple nearby that he thought Cas would approve of and would most likely pass his own inspection. He wasn’t going to let his girl go to just any preschool, he was going to make sure that she would be taken care of properly.

Cas was still worried about how Dean's having to get a new job. This was partially Dean's fault as he may have shared some horror stories from work, he hadn't named any names of course he was a professional after all, but apparently his boyfriend was hung up on the possibility that he might end up working for a less than stellar family.

"I'll be fine," Dean said for what felt like the millionth time, "I'm an adult, I can handle finding a new gig. You just think about which daycare center you want to enroll Claire in."

"I probably will still worry but I do trust you so I promise I will try not to bother you about it," Cas promised. He even had one hand raised in the air like some sort of Boy Scout. Dean snorted in amusement at his dorky boyfriend.

Cas paid for their lunches, saying that it was part of his plan to make up for scaring him with his less than thought out text last night. They left the diner walked over to Cas' car. Dean had walked this morning, hoping the trip to the diner would calm him down, so the Impala was at home. 

Apparently neither of them knew what to do now that they had finished all the serious talk so they both leaned against Cas' car in slightly awkward silence. 

"So, uh, are we doing anything this afternoon or do you have to get back to Claire?" Dean asked hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck. The break in the silence must have been what the other man needed because he immediately perked up, flashing a smile at Dean.

"Actually, I do have an idea, if you approve of course," Cas replied cheerily but didn't elaborate any further. Dean huffed in mock annoyance.

"Well are you going to share with the class or is this part of the whole vague thing you're apparently trying?" he teased.

Instead of answering, Cas beckoned him closer while leaning in. Expecting a kiss, Dean smiled as he moved closer and started to tilt his head only to have the other man grasp him by the neck and draw his ear down to his mouth.

"Meg offered to take Claire for the night and it occurs to me, I haven't been to your place yet. I was hoping you might be up to giving me the grand tour," Cas murmured huskily leaving no doubt as to how he wanted the tour of Dean's apartment to end, "I was also hoping we could find a way for me to start apologizing for making you worry so much." 

He concluded this highly attractive proposal with a quick nip to Dean’s ear, causing him to shiver in anticipation, before leaning back to look at him with a half lidded gaze that Dean was quickly learning meant extremely good things were in his future. Dean was already so lost in a fantasy involving a very naked Cas in his bed that he almost missed his boyfriend asking if his proposed plan was approved. 

Dean nodded fervently and rounded around the hood of the car, heading towards the passenger side. When he noticed that Cas was still standing at the front of the car, smirking in amusement at Dean’s eagerness, he grinned right back and tapped on the roof of the car impatiently.

“Come on Cas, let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got a very thorough tour planned for you and we’re going to need all the time we can get.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely people! I'm so sorry I left you hanging with that cliffhanger for so long. I really did think this chapter would be out quicker but unfortunately real life snuck up on me there for a minute but I'm back and I come offering some more amateur smut as a peace offering. I've split it into its own chapter again just in case it's not your cup of tea. Enjoy :)


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the promised smut. If you don't feel like reading it, that's perfectly fine. There nothing important story-wise in here, just some dirty writing. :)

Dean would like to say that he and Cas were able to conduct themselves like grown ass men on their way to his apartment but that, sadly, would be a dirty lie. 

To their credit, they were able to keep their hands to themselves all through the car ride but that control started to slip when they entered the elevator and it was all Cas’ fault. Once they were inside and Dean had hit the button for his floor, they both leaned against the wall and waited impatiently for the doors to open again. Cas reached out to grab his hand and started rubbing his thumb back and forth over the sensitive skin of Dean’s wrist. That action, plus the positively hungry look in his boyfriend’s eyes was making Dean’s pulse start to race. 

He shot Cas a warning look, he refused to be that couple who was joined at the face in the elevator and told him as such. Cas rolled his eyes as he pushed himself off the wall only to swiftly turn so he could box Dean in with his arms on either side of his head. In this position Dean could feel the other man’s body heat and was treated to the full force of Cas’ penetrating gaze. Plus the sneaky bastard leaned forward until his mouth was only a hairsbreadth away from Dean’s and just hovered there, temptingly. It was little wonder that Dean broke, how was he supposed to resist that?

Dean mentally cursed his boyfriend’s wily ways as he surged forward to close the tiny distance and pressed his mouth to Cas’. The other man chuckled smugly into the kiss while moving a hand to cup the side of his face and the other down to rest on his hip. The kiss was just about to get even more heated when the elevator dinged indicating they had reached Dean’s floor.

_Finally_ , his mind cheered as he pushed Cas off of him so he could grab the other man’s hand and drag him down the hall. Cas followed eagerly. 

Once they reached the door, Dean dug through his pockets to find his keys. Of course it would take forever to fish them out of his jacket since he needed to be inside asap. Cas huffed impatiently and unhelpfully plastered himself to Dean’s back. 

“Cut it out,” Dean grumbled as he fumbled with the lock, “You’re making it a bit hard to concentrate.”

“Not to be cliche but, I’ll show you hard,” Cas growled and, to emphasize his statement, ground his crotch into Dean’s ass. Dean groaned as his hips were pushed into the door; pushing back so he could reach the doorknob, Dean redoubled his efforts on opening the door. After what seemed like an eternity but in reality was only about thirty seconds the door was unlocked and they were practically tumbling into the apartment.

Normally Dean would have begun babbling about how he hadn’t had time to tidy up, which was accurate in this case, but at the moment his only concern was getting Cas to his room as soon as possible. He turned around and pushed Cas’ jacket off his shoulders before taking off his own and dragging Cas in for a heated kiss. The other man moaned deep in his chest and flipped them around to Dean was pressed to the door, nudging his own leg between Dean’s. Dean began to rock his hips against Cas’ thigh while Cas started grinding on his hip; they were both well on their way to being hard.

“Weren’t...you going...to...give me a tour…” Cas managed to say breathlessly between kisses. Dean nodded his agreement.

“Yeah,” he replied, kissing his way down Cas’ neck, “How about we start with the bedroom?” He nipped at the point where Cas’ neck meets his shoulder, a known Cas hot spot, causing the other man to gasp. 

“Yes!” Cas exclaimed. Dean smirked and, after taking a second to lock the door, hurriedly pulled Cas through the living room and into his bedroom.

They immediately began to peel off their clothes; both of them too impatient to try and make it into anything sexy. Soon they were naked at which time, Cas pushed Dean down so he was sitting on the bed. 

“I believe that I have some making up to do,” he said huskily as he got down on his knees. Dean’s breath hitched as he realized where this was headed.

Cas positioned himself comfortably between Dean’s spread legs, running his hands up and down his thighs but never going as far as to touch Dean’s cock. After the fourth time Cas’ hand almost touched him only to reverse direction, Dean groaned as his hips bucked forward. Cas laughed but apparently he got the message because he reached out to grab the base of Dean’s leaking cock and leaned forward to take Dean into his mouth.

Dean threw his head back and gasped as he was engulfed in wet heat. He had to resist the urge to thrust his hips towards Cas’ mouth, a task that got even more difficult when Cas slowly worked his mouth further down his length while working the rest of his shaft with one hand and tugging lightly on his balls with the other. Cas pulled back to swirl his tongue around the head of his cock in a random pattern that had Dean unconsciously reaching a hand down to tangle in the tangled mess of sex hair that was currently bobbing in his lap.

“Oh, god Cas,” Dean gasped after the other man started suckling on the tip of his dick, “I want you to fuck me, please.” Cas pulled his mouth off of Dean’s cock and looked up at him. His mouth was swollen, lips shiny with a mixture of saliva and precome, and his eyes were dark with lust. He rose up from the floor and leaned over him so that Dean had to shift backwards on the bed so Cas could hover over him on his hands and knees. 

“Is that what you want Dean? For me to open you up?” Cas said as he ran his hands up and down Dean’s side, kissing along the bolt of his jaw, “For me to spread you out and fuck you into the mattress?”

“Yeah,” Dean breathed, “Yeah, that’s what I want Cas.”

Dean grudgingly wiggled out from underneath his boyfriend so he could retrieve the condoms and lube from his bedside table. Cas grabbed the bottle and squeezed a healthy dollop onto his fingers.

“Lay back and relax Dean, I’ll take care of you,” Cas murmured. Dean settled back on the pillows, spreading his legs to make room for Cas between them. The other man placed wet opened mouth kisses over Dean’s hips and groin as he slowly worked him open.

Dean knew he was moaning like a whore but he couldn’t help it, between the lips gently trailing up and down his hard cock and Cas’ fingers prodding at that spot inside him, he just felt so good. After several minutes of rocking his hips down in Cas’ very skillful fingers Dean knew they had to get a move on before he spontaneously combusted.

“Come on Cas, I’m good,” he whined, “Fuck me already.”

Apparently that was what the other man had been waiting to hear because he immediately stopped grinding his hips into the mattress and hastily withdrew his fingers so he could slid a condom over his length. Dean whimpered slightly at the loss of the fingers but he wasn’t empty long, soon Cas was prodding his legs further apart so he could move between them.

Dean felt the gentle nudging of the tip of Cas’ cock at his entrance right before the other man entered him slowly but firmly with a low groan. It took Dean a few minutes to adjust to the feeling of being full but Cas did his best to stay still, something that Dean suspected was somewhat difficult for him since he could almost feel the other man vibrating with the need to thrust. Cas was panting and waiting for Dean to let him know it was okay to move, Dean nodded his head.

That was apparently all Cas needed to make the switch from hesitant lover to wild animal and boy did Dean approve.

The other man began moving his hips in a devastatingly delicious rhythm while simultaneously fucking his tongue into Dean’s mouth, swallowing the moans he forced out of him. All of Dean’s higher brain functions fizzled out under this onslaught and soon all he was focused on was moving his hips in concert with Cas’ and chasing the heat that was building low in his belly.

Cas was murmuring dirty things in his ear in between kissing and biting his neck, all while fucking his cock in and out of Dean’s ass. Dean could only moan in response, every once and a while gasping when Cas hit that spot that shot sparks up Dean’s spine.

Despite his delirious thoughts that Cas was some sort of sex machine, he could soon feel Cas rhythm starting to falter as he drew close to the edge.

“Dean,” Cas groaned out, his face covered in sweat from his efforts, “I’m getting close, touch yourself for me?”

Something about the slightly desperate way he asked this sent an extra burst of arousal through Dean, getting him that much closer to the edge. He reached a hand between their heated bodies to grasp his steadily leaking cock and started to hastily jerk himself off.

“Do you have any idea how sexy you look right now? Laid out beneath me, taking my cock so well?” Cas managed to gasp out as his hips lost their smooth rhythm, starting to jerk frantically as he approached that edge.

Dean couldn’t form a response, he was so close now, the pleasure zinging through his body was almost too much. He needed just a bit more…

Just then Cas tilted his hips and on the next inward thrust he pounded right on that spot and that was it. Dean cried out as blinding pleasure crashed over him in waves and he came forcefully between them, covering his hand and chest with come. Cas movements became even more jerky and desperate, he wasn’t quite there. Remembering their first time together, Dean spoke.

“That’s it Cas, go on, fill me up. I know you want it, you’re almost there. Fuck me good and come for me.”

With a chest deep groan that sounded like it was torn out of him, Cas’ hips stuttered against his ass as the other man joined him in bliss. He collapsed onto Dean’s chest, obviously unable to care about the mess between them.

It took a minute before Cas was coherent enough to pull out and roll off of him so he could remove the condom and throw it in the small trash can by the bed. Once that was accomplished and Dean had found some tissues to use for a perfunctory clean up, Cas drew him into his arms and covered them up with the comforter. They lay there breathing a little heavily but still buzzing pleasantly in the post orgasmic haze, not feeling the need to break the silence just yet.

Dean was just about to nod off when he remembered something. He wriggled out of a sleepily protesting Cas’ embrace to grab his phone.

“What’re you doing?” Cas mumbled, obviously grumpy that Dean was disturbing his post sex nap. He pulled Dean back to his chest as soon as he set his phone back down.

“Setting an alarm,” Dean replied, stretching lazily, “I am definitely not missing out on my round two this time.”

Cas chuckled and, after a few more lazy kisses, they settled in for a well earned nap.


	25. Chapter 25

Castiel puttered around the kitchen anxiously, organizing the counters, wiping down various surfaces and double checking the grocery list on the fridge. It was almost midnight and he couldn’t sleep.

His little girl was starting preschool in about eight hours.

It had all seemed so simple a couple of weeks ago when he and Dean had planned out their solution to the employment problem but he hadn’t realized then how the actual situation would affect him. His sweet little girl was growing up and Castiel wasn’t quite sure how to process this realization. He had been feeling fine until he went to tuck Claire in for the night; she had been acting extra rambunctious that evening and he ask what had gotten into her.

"Sorry Daddy, I'm just so excited to go to school tomorrow," she had squealed as she bounced on her bed.

"Preschool," Castiel had corrected hurriedly her then paused as he wondered why he had felt the need to even do so. To a little girl school was school and right on the heels of that thought was the thought that his munchkin would be starting actual grade school soon. This thought was accompanied by a baffling sunken feeling in his chest; it was also the precise moment that the tight feeling of nerves had settled into stomach, a feeling that only worsened as the night went on and had brought him to this point.

He wiped down the sparkling clean counter one last time and, after seeing it was a quarter to midnight, decided that if he was going to try and get some sleep, he probably should go up to his room. Sighing and rubbing at his face in frustration, Castiel shuffled towards the stairs.

Unfortunately sleep still eluded him even after he was ensconced in his bed though he suspected this was also due into part that his bed had started to feel noticeably empty anymore. Now that he and Dean had revealed their relationship to Claire, Dean stayed the night sometimes. Not for any funny business, as Meg liked to refer to he and Dean's more adult activities while little ears were around, but just for the comfort of waking up with someone. It didn't happen too often but apparently it happened enough for Castiel to miss Dean significantly when the other man wasn't there.

_Good going let's add pining over Dean to the list of things keeping me awake_ , he thought as he roughly punched his pillow, more out of frustration than a desire to form it into a more comfortable shape. He glared at the ceiling while trying to force his tired mind to let go of his worries long enough for him to sleep.

It was just when he was on the verge of sleep when his phone buzzed loudly on his nightstand indicating a text. Groaning frustratedly, Castiel rolled over to fumble for the cursed device and cringed when the bright screen assaulted his eyes. It was a random text from Meg. Damn her and her night owl ways. He was just about to put the phone down, he could respond tomorrow, when a thought occurred to him. Maybe Meg could talk him out of his worries. Castiel brought up his friend's contact and hit dial as he laid back down to listen to it ring.

"What the hell are you still doing awake Clarence?" Meg asked bluntly after answering, "I thought you had to be up bright and early tomorrow to take the munchkin to her first day of preschool."

Castiel sighed tiredly and replied morosely, "She's going to preschool Meg."

There was a moment of silence where Castiel could hear Meg's quiet breathing and snippets of whatever TV show she was watching before he heard her sigh right back at him.

"So you're finally having the 'my little girl is growing up' dad panic attack then?" drawled Meg, “Honestly, I thought you would have started this a few days ago.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Castiel began to babble, “She’s starting school tomorrow, the next thing you know, she’ll be graduating college and moving away and only visiting on holidays. I was supposed to have more time.” His voice started to rise higher in pitch out of panic the longer he talked and he tugged on his hair anxiously.

“Calm down, Castiel,” his friend said soothingly, or at least trying to sound as soothing as was possible for her, "You’re going to give yourself a brain aneurism thinking that hard.”

Castiel used the hand not currently holding his phone to rub at his eyes with a mixture of exhaustion and frustration. The logical part of his brain was pointing out how ridiculous it was to worry about Claire graduating college, she was just a child, but for some unfathomable reason he just couldn't stop. He tried to put this strange feeling into words for Meg but nothing seemed to work. Even he could tell he sounded like a crazy person.

"Now obviously I'm not an expert on children, seeing as I’ve never had any and I don't plan on having any, but it seems to me that freaking out about Claire growing up is pointless," Meg replied in a tone that was so matter of fact, it started to chip through the wall of panic currently surrounding Castiel's brain, "One of your jobs as a dad is to make sure she grows up to be a decent human, note the operative words there Clarence, grow up. You can't stop her from growing up, science is sort of against you there, but you can stop acting like a neurotic worrywart and enjoy the munchkin years while they last. Besides, she'll be a moody teen one day and driving you so insane with all her teenage bullshit that you won't have time to worry about time passing."

Castiel chuckled reluctantly. He had heard a lot about the shenanigans Meg had gotten up to as a teenager over the years. His favorite was the time she released two gigantic boxes of crickets into the teachers' lounge at her high school to 'liven things up a bit' during finals week, she insisted they could still hear crickets in the vents four years later when she graduated.

That little bit of laughter helped loosen band of anxiety around his chest so he was able to relax a bit, not enough to sleep soundly but enough to at least catch a little bit of rest. He was opening his mouth to tell Meg that he was feeling better and was going to try and sleep when he heard a familiar engine outside on the street.

He was so surprised that instead of saying what he had been planning, he blurted out, "Dean?"

Meg laughed lowly on the other end of the line. Castiel scrambled out of bed and walked as quickly as he could towards the door, making sure to soften his steps so he didn't wake Claire.

"I may have texted your lover boy to let him know you were driving yourself insane and suggested you might not object to a surprise sleepover," she said, Castiel could practically see her self satisfied smirk through the phone, "I figured he might be able to talk you down...or tire you out so you can sleep." Castiel blushed slightly at this comment.

"If you're done teasing me," he replied snarkily, "I have to hang up, it appears that I have a guest." 

"Alright then but first, who's the best best friend ever?" Meg teased further as his phone beeped, most likely indicating a text from Dean. Castiel went to unlock the door and let his boyfriend in the house.

"You are," Castiel sighed as if frustrated but his tone switched to one of sincerity, "Thanks Meg."

Meg scoffed at his soft tone, "Don't get all mushy on me now Clarence. You know I'm allergic to feels. Now go, enjoy your sleepover. I've got my own sleeping to do."

He wished her goodnight and hung up. By now Dean must have gotten out of his car because Castiel could see the shadow of a person through the frosted glass windows outlining the door. He unlocked the door and opened it to be greeted by a sleepy looking Dean. His boyfriend was still clad in his plaid pajama pants and ratty t-shirt with his leather jacket thrown on top and by the look of the other man's wild hair and pillow creased face, it looked like Dean had rolled right out of bed and into his car to get here. He was also holding a bag that Castiel assumed held clothes for tomorrow.

Castiel immediately felt guilt curl unpleasantly in his gut. Sure he hadn't been the one to text Dean but he should have been able to sort out his own issues without calling Meg at ass'o'clock in the morning causing her to tell Dean about his freak out.

"Dean, you didn't have to come over, Meg was just being a pain. I'm perf-mphf!"

His apology was abruptly cut off by a mouth covering his as Dean pulled him in for a chaste kiss. For the first time since all the worrying had began, Castiel felt his muscles start to relax as Dean gently rubbed his back and sides after dropping his bag to the floor with a soft thump. The motion was extremely soothing and it had the added effect of making him slightly drowsy. Dean broke the kiss and pulled back to look him in the eyes.

"Sleep now, talk later," Dean mumbled sleepily as he shut the door and stripped off his jacket and shoes. 

When Castiel tried to protest, Dean just placed a finger to his lips to silence him and tugged him towards the stairs. They shuffled up the stairs and into Castiel's room in comfortable silence. Dean crawled into the bed, flopped onto his back and held his arms open, an unspoken demand that Castiel obeyed happily.

Castiel pillowed his head on his boyfriend's chest as Dean wrapped his arms around him. The fact Dean was willing to crawl out of bed and drive all the way over here to comfort him caused Castiel's chest to fill with warmth, a warmth that helped chase the remaining toxic thoughts from his head so he could melt into the heat of Dean's side and relish the arms surrounding him. Stealing one last fond glance at Dean, who was already snoring softly, Castiel was finally able to drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may or may not have written this entire chapter on the note app on my iPod while at work but in my defense, I only had one hour's of work to fill an eight hour day today and I seem to be the most inspired when I have other things I should be doing.  
> Also, I feel I maybe approaching the end with this story, I have a few more things to do but it probably won't be too much longer.  
> And as always, thank you for reading. :)


	26. Chapter 26

It took Dean a few seconds to get his bearings when an alarm clock that was definitely not his own went off loudly by his head the next morning. He grunted in annoyance as he fumbled beside him for the snooze button with his free arm since his other arm seemed to be trapped under some warm weight. When he finally hit the button, silencing the dreaded alarm, Dean took a deep breath as last night’s events came slowly together in his sleep-fuzzy mind.

Going to bed, being woken up by a text from Meg of all people, driving to Cas’ in the middle of the night and stumbling into bed with a tired looking boyfriend.

_That about sums it up_ , he thought to himself, rubbing his free hand absentmindedly through his messy hair. Dean craned his neck down to look at Cas who seemed to be trying his best to mold into Dean’s side and was still dead to the world despite the alarm ruckus. Usually Cas was the first of them to hop out of bed when the alarm rang in the morning; he really must be exhausted.

Meg hadn’t really elaborated last night when she texted, she had just said that Cas was having a freak-out and practically demanded that he go to comfort him. He had been planning on at least talking a little bit about what was bothering the other man before they went to bed but when Cas had opened the door, looking so damn tired but insisting he was fine, Dean had made the executive decision that they were going to bed and that talking could wait.

Knowing that he was going to have to wake up Cas at some point even though he really wanted to let the other man sleep, Dean started gently rubbing Cas’ arm and murmuring encouragements to wake up. He felt guilty about disturbing that peaceful looking slumber but he knew that Cas had a busy day ahead.

In no time at all, Cas started to stir. His boyfriend closed his eyes tightly and shifted so he could wrap his arms tightly around Dean’s torso and bury his face deeper into his side.

“No,” he whined grumpily into Dean’s chest, “I refuse to believe it’s time to get up yet.”

Dean chuckled softly and ran a hand softly through Cas’ wild hair, brushing it away from his face. “Sorry babe, but you really do have to get up and we needed to talk about what was bothering you last night.”

Cas stiffened slightly before pulling away to look up at him.

"It was something stupid," he mumbled, eyes downcast, "I shouldn't have bothered Meg about it and by extension you. Can we just let it go please."

He was giving Dean the pleading puppy eyes but Dean was having none of it. Something was really bothering his boyfriend and damned if he was going to be out of the loop. Dean drew a reluctant Cas into his arms and held him tightly; he could feel that all the tension from last night had returned.

"Cas," Dean sighed before pressing a kiss to the unruly mop of hair tucked under his chin, "One of the perks of having a boyfriend is you can talk to me about when things are bothering you and don't try and tell me there isn't anything because you're so tense, it's like I'm trying to cuddle with a statue."

"Got a lot of experience cuddling statues have you?" Cas mumbled into Dean's collarbone. 

Dean chuckled and ran a hand up and down Cas' arm. Cas seemed to lose a tiny fraction of the tension at this so he continued and started rubbing what parts of the other man's back he could reach for good measure.

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't; tell me what had you so freaked out and I might tell you about my secret statue fetish," he replied jokingly. He could see Cas was trying to hide a grin in the fabric of his t-shirt clad chest.

A moment of silence passed before Cas heaved a great sigh and began to tell him about how the fact that Claire was growing up hit him like a freight train last night. He talked about his fear that soon Claire would leave and never come back like he had with his own family. Talking about his worries seemed to help since as he voiced each one, he became more relaxed and pliant in Dean's arms.

After Cas stopped talking, Dean shifted backwards so he was sitting against the headboard and maneuvered Cas so that his boyfriend was sitting tucked into his side. He turned and tilted Cas’ downcast face up so he could catch those blue eyes, which were still filled with anxiety; he wanted to be sure he had the other man’s attention.

“First of all, you can’t compare you and Claire’s relationship to the one you had with your parents,” Dean said firmly, “From what you’ve told me, they were a bunch of homophobic dicks and you both are obviously better off without them, so you can just stop worrying about that.” Cas opened his mouth to argue but Dean pressed a finger to his lips to silence him and continued, “Second, not to sound like a broken record, but every parent goes through this. I know it seems like time is going to fly by but you have years before Claire is going to college and despite what your crazy brain is telling you, she will be around after she graduates.”

Cas pulled Dean’s hand away from his mouth.

“Maybe you are right but even if that’s true, some day she is going to move out and I’m just going to be an old lonely dad puttering around my empty house, waiting for the few times a year my daughter visits,” Cas argued. Dean rolled his eyes. 

“You won’t be alone you weirdo, I’ll be there keeping your old ass company.”

He froze as he realized what he had just said. He had just basically said he planned on being around practically forever. Cas seemed to notice this as well since the other man was looking at him with wide eyes.

_Shit, it’s way too early in this to be talking about being around more than ten years from now_ , his mind panicked, _Quick, think of a subject change._

But before he could even think of a way to try and distract Cas, the other man spoke.

“You really think we’re going to last that long Dean?”

Despite Dean’s fear that Cas would be freaked out, his boyfriend actually sound hopeful. A bit hesitant, as if he was afraid he had heard Dean wrong, but hopeful nonetheless. Dean swallowed nervously. 

His mind racing to find the right way to say what he needed to say. He had been thinking lately about how much he loved Cas, yes he meant love, he would have to be stupid not to see it. He wasn’t sure if he could say it yet though but he wanted Cas to know he was in this for the long haul. Everything that flashed through his mind sounded so stupid but the longer the silence lasted the more agitated Cas was looking so he picked the least moronic of the bunch.

“I, uh, I think,” he babbled as his face started to flush and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “I know that this is probably way too soon for this but, um, all I know is I don’t think I’ve ever felt as comfortable around another person who wasn’t family and I care about you and Claire so much, so I guess I’d like to be around for as long as you’ll have me, I guess.”

_Way to be eloquent, moron,_ his brain supplied helpfully as he waited to see what Cas would say.

Cas didn’t say anything. He leapt forward to knock Dean sideways onto the bed, pressing his mouth to Dean’s. It wasn’t a kiss meant to lead to anything more, it was closed mouthed and chaste but the intensity was mind-blowing. Cas had his hands twisted in Dean’s shirt and was pinning him to the bed in an awkward pile of limbs.

“Wow, I take it you’re feeling better now,” Dean gasped when they finally broke apart. Cas grinned brightly and now that was a gorgeous sight.

“You have to be the best boyfriend on the planet,” Cas replied, giving Dean a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “Every time I have a crisis there you are to save the day and now I know that I’m not the only one who wants this to be long term. Of course I feel better.”

Dean smiled as he said cockily, “What can I say, I’m Batman.”

He halfheartedly pushed Cas off of him. This action led to a playful wrestling match that was cut short when Cas caught sight of the alarm clock right after he skillfully pinned Dean underneath him. 

“Well Mister Wayne,” Cas said sarcastically, patting Dean soundly on his sides and leaning in to steal a quick kiss, “It appears it’s time to wake up the munchkin. I suggest you brace yourself, she’s already riled up because she’s going to school today, I’m not sure what adding a surprise visit from you at the breakfast table might do.”

And with that the weight pinning Dean down was gone as Cas practically teleported off the bed and to the door. He smirked at the bewilderment that Dean suspected must be evident on his face before disappearing into the hallway. 

Dean grinned like an idiot as he scrambled out of the tangled covers to hurry after him. He really did love that man, even if he wasn’t ready to tell him yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely people, I give you yet another gift of fluff. I hope you like it and as always, thank you for reading. :)


	27. Chapter 27

It turns out that Dean and Meg were right. Dropping his little girl off for her first day of preschool did not cause his world to implode on itself. Though he would argue that the whole ordeal was made much easier with the addition of his boyfriend’s calming presence so who could really say how he would have reacted if Dean hadn’t been there.

The daycare teacher, a cheery woman who had introduced herself as Miss Donna, had met the three of them in the office area of the daycare to walk them back to the preschool room. She had chattered brightly the whole way there about all the fun thing that the class was going to be doing that day and reassuring Claire that she would have the best time. Claire hadn’t needed any of these reassurances of course since she had been a miniature ball of energy ever since Castiel had woken up earlier that morning and informed her that they had a surprise breakfast guest.

“Dean is here?!” She had squealed while trying to fight her way out of her blankets; Claire tended to toss and turn at night so most morning she was firmly enclosed in a blanket cocoon. 

Castiel had chuckled at her attempts and reached out to help disentangle her. “Yes, he heard that a certain big girl was starting preschool today and thought maybe she might want some waffles to start her first day.”

She had immediately scrambled out of the bed and out of her room. Smiling at his daughter's excitement, Castiel had followed her at a more leisurely pace and the morning had gone smoothly from there despite the excess of energy.

 

They were currently standing outside a door embellished with brightly colored kites that had obviously been decorated by the children whose names were written on them.

"Okay, here we are!" Donna said brightly, smiling down at Claire, "Now why don't you say bye bye to your daddies and we'll head in to introduce you to your new friends?"

Dean and Castiel looked at each other with wide eyes; both obviously trying to decide how to explain that Dean wasn't Claire's parent. They were saved from this explanation when Claire piped up.

“Dean is Daddy’s boyfriend but some day they’re gonna get married and we’ll all live at our house but Dean says the have to learn more about each other first,” Claire informed Miss Donna in a very matter of fact voice, “And they must know more now because Dean and Daddy have slumber parties and in the morning Dean makes me waffles.”

There was an extremely noticeable silence after Claire’s declaration where a red faced Dean and Castiel looked at Donna in horror. To Castiel’s relief, the preschool teacher was looking back at them with a suppressed smile that showed that the information that was just revealed wasn’t shocking to her. It seemed to Castiel that she was more amused by the gaping mouthed looks of surprise on their faces and in her defense, if Dean’s face was anything like his, they most likely both looked like a pair of dazed fish. The other man recovered his ability to talk first.

“Um, well, I suppose that’s as good a way as any to explain it,” Dean said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Castiel nodded his head reluctantly even though he was still cringing internally at the current train-wreck of a situation.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You don’t think this is the first time I’ve had a munchkin overshare do you?” Donna chuckled before she continued soothingly, “Believe me fellas, this will just stay between us.”

Castiel relaxed at this, even if he was still embarrassed beyond belief, and looked down at Claire who was staring up at the adults with a look of impatience before peering through the frosted glass on the door. She appeared to be very anxious to go and meet the other kids. 

_I guess it’s time for me to leave her to it_ , he thought glumly. He crouched down so he was on her level.

“Okay sweetheart, Dean and I are going to head out now,” he said softly, “I’ll be back at the end of the day to pick you up. You have a great day and listen to Miss Donna, alright?”

She beamed at him and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes Daddy, I will.”

Despite his acceptance of Dean’s reasoning that Claire’s going to preschool was not the end of the world, Castiel found himself getting a bit emotional. However, he refused to cause a scene in front of the preschool teacher so he pulled his daughter in for a tight hug before kissing her forehead and standing back up. Dean placed a grounding hand on the small of his back.

"You have an awesome first day Claire," Dean said cheerfully, "I'm looking forward to hearing about all the cool stuff you're gonna do."

Claire walked over and hugged Dean around the knees, "Bye Dean, me and Daddy will come over to see you after school and I’ll tell you all about it, kay?"

Well that little scene didn't help Castiel's tenuous grip on his emotions, the only thing that stopped him from tearing up like some pathetic sap was his refusal to sacrifice any more of remaining dignity. Being a teary-eyed wreck could wait until he wasn't in public.

Donna passed Claire on to a happy looking teacher's aide and escorted them back to the office where the receptionist gave them a run down of the end of the day pick-up procedure. Soon he and Dean were walking slowly back to the car, Dean's hand still resting reassuringly on his back. They got into the car and Castiel heaved a big sigh as he rested his head back on the seat.

"So, that wasn't that bad, was it Cas?" Dean said, patting him on the arm. Castiel grumbled in the back of his throat in response. "Sorry, babe. I don't speak grumble, you're going to have to use your words."

Castiel scowled at his boyfriend's teasing. "It wasn't that bad," he answered with no small amount of snark as he squirmed in his seats to retrieve the car keys from his pants pocket.

"And that was the hardest part, now you just have to go to work and be distracted from moping and next thing you know, you'll be coming back to pick her up," Dean said nonchalantly, not noticing how Castiel froze for a second while starting the car at the mention of work, before continuing, "You can just drop me off at the nanny office instead of taking me to get my car. I was going to look into some open positions today and Charlie said she wouldn't mind taking me over if I take her out for lunch."

Castiel was still attempting to act natural as he drove to the Guardian Angel building. He just had to not act twitchy until he dropped Dean off and his boyfriend would be nonetheless wiser. There were a few moments of silence as they approached the agency.

"You took the day off work so you could stay home and worry, didn't you?"

_Damn it._

Castiel parked the car outside the large brick building that housed the nanny agency and hung his head in embarrassment. Was he really that easy to read?

Dean was still waiting for an answer, sitting in his seat with his arms crossed and expectant look on his face. Castiel turned to face him and nodded.

"First of all, I had already arranged to take the day off before you talked me into not worrying so taking the day to worry seemed perfectly logical then," Castiel stated matter of factly, "Secondly, you can't be sacrificing your plans to job search just to babysit me all day, I'm fine now." He also wanted to argue that he was a grown man and if he wanted to stay home and brood about his little girl growing up, that was his business but he knew that Dean would have none of that and it would defeat his argument that he was feeling okay.

It wasn't until Dean reached over to place a hand on his shoulder that Castiel realized that the tension from last night was creeping in again to join forces with his embarrassment. He leaned gratefully into the touch, which eased the tension but not the strange sense of shame he felt at not being able to handle this simple situation. He related the to Dean as best as he could. Dean seemed to take a minute to consider this before answering.

"I think that the reason this is hitting you so hard is because it's just been the two of you for so long," the other man said while pulling him in for an awkward side-hug over the car console, "Your life has revolved around Claire and work for so long and now all of the sudden you're confronted with the fact that some day in the way far away future,Claire won’t need you as much so your brain started freaking out."

“Even if that is true,” Castiel said, turning his head at an odd angle so he could look at Dean, “Not that I’m saying I agree with you, why can’t I just man up and get over it?”

Dean smiled and shook his head before placing a chaste kiss on Castiel’s mouth. “Because, you big dope, you need time to process. Just give it a couple days and you’ll be fine, I promise. Now how about you come inside with me, you can chat with Charlie while I take a quick look at the openings list and then we’ll go home and chill for the rest of the day, sound like a plan?”

That plan sounded pretty amazing. Castiel took the opportunity to nuzzle into Dean’s side despite the hard plastic of the console digging into his hip. The logical part of his mind knew Dean was right but the rest of him was having a hard time getting on board. 

“Alright,” he sighed, sitting up and causing Dean to release him, “Since I’m obviously not thinking logically at the moment, I’ll trust you with the itinerary for the day.” He grabbed his keys and started to get out of the car.

Dean grinned at him and moved to remove his seatbelt. “Well come on then, we better not keep Her Majesty waiting.”

It wasn’t until they were waiting for the elevator that Castiel realized Dean had referred to his house as home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very sorry this took so long. I was feeling a bit doom and gloom (nothing serious, just something that happens from time to time) for a while which is obviously not the sort of mindset that's helpful to writing a fluffy lovey story such as this but I'm back to normal now so hopefully this chapter will make up for my absence. So to you lovely people who are still reading this, thank you for reading! :)


	28. Chapter 28

"I was starting to wonder if you two were ever going to get of the car," Charlie said, grinning smugly over her computer screen at the pair of them as they entered the reception area. "You looked awfully snugly down there."

Dean leaned over the desk to peek at her screen, and after seeing his suspicions confirmed, returned her smugness as he replied, "I'm just honored you took time away from World of Warcraft to creep on us from the window."

Charlie rolled her eyes as she paused her game. "I wouldn't call it creeping, more like friendly concern. You did text me saying you would here like fifteen minutes ago, I was just checking to make sure you weren't being murdered in the parking lot like any good friend would do."

Cas chuckled quietly at the red head's response. The low rumbling laughter made Dean feel a bit relieved, it meant that Cas was feeling a little better. The other man had him worried despite their talks this morning in bed and the more recent one in the car; he was trying his best to cheer him up but it's not as if Dean really had any experience in this area, he never had a kid start school.

"So," Dean said, clapping his hands together before leaning against the desk, "What do you got for me, red?" Charlie immediately began typing and soon the printer next to her started spitting out pages. She handed the pages and pen over to Dean.

A brief glance at the list told the nanny that finding a new gig was going to suck but he kept this to himself. No need to add to the pile of things for Cas to worry about. Dean shifted so he was propped on his elbows on the desk and looked at the list again for a few minutes, marking a few jobs that looked promising. He glanced over at his boyfriend. Cas was happily chatting with Charlie.

_Good, maybe Charlie can cheer him up too_ , he thought to himself. It was hard to be down in the dumps around the energetic woman, she had a perpetual good mood that was contagious.

"I'm telling you Cas," Charlie said, handing him a very familiar looking pamphlet. "Claire would love Moondoor. It's right up her alley; from what I saw when you brought her here for the interview, she has a fantastic imagination."

Ah, the Queen was recruiting for her kingdom. He remembered Charlie mention that he should invite Cas and Claire to a LARPing weekend but Dean had forgotten since he missed the last one; the three of them had gone to the zoo that particular Saturday followed by a picnic in the park in Sunday. 

"I'm not sure Charlie," Cas replied hesitantly, "Are you sure this is appropriate for someone so young? Isn't it a bit violent?"

Charlie waved her hand nonchalantly, "Only at the actual battles, which are just people hitting each other with sticks honestly, but she wouldn't be in that. I was thinking I might make her the Princess of Moons if you decide to join up. She'd have a blast."

Not letting on that he was paying attention, Dean silently agreed with his friend. It would be awesome if his boyfriend and his daughter came to a LARP event; they would have so much fun. He'd get to show off his costume which was way more badass that the title of handmaiden made it seem. Dean was lost in thought on what he might be able to get Cas to dress as when a voice jogged him out of his reverie.

"What do you think Dean?" Cas asked, suddenly appearing at his side.

Dean jumped, "Dammit Cas, don't sneak up on a man when he's job searching!" The other man just chuckled at his indignant attitude. "What do I think about what?" Dean asked, playing dumb since they hadn’t noticed he had been eavesdropping.

"About Claire going to a LARPing weekend. Do you think it would be appropriate for someone her age?" Cas asked, indicating the pamphlet in his hand. "You've obviously been to the events and, considering your occupation, you know what is and isn't age appropriate."

"Oh yeah, it would be fine for her. Everyone is cool about keeping it light and friendly around the kids," Dean explained quickly, trying to reassure him since he really really wanted Cas and Claire to go with him sometime.

The other man still looked a bit hesitant but he turned and nodded to Charlie. "I guess you can add a princess and a knight to your kingdom, Your Majesty."

Charlie whooped and threw a fist in that air in victory while Cas looked on in amusement. Dean however was hung up on one detail of Cas' response.

"How come Cas gets to be a knight right off the bat?" Dean pouted, crossing his arms grumpily. "I got regulated to handmaiden because you said I had to "work my way up" but he just waltzes in and gets knighthood."

"Oh don't act like you don't like being my handmaiden," Charlie chided him playfully to which Dean responded with a halfhearted scowl. "He's going to be a knight so he can be around Princess Claire all the time, he'll be her champion."

Okay, Dean could get behind that reasoning. That way the people who took everything a bit too seriously couldn't bitch about Cas about not filling his assigned role properly. It was also a plus because that would mean the three of them would be together since the princess and her knight would obviously stay with the queen who just happens to keep her handmaiden with her at all times.

"Plus, I figure he'll look pretty hot in the knight get up,” Charlie added, turning to Dean with an evil smirk. Dean could feel his face getting hot as he pictured Cas dressed as a dashing knight with his messy hair and his scruff, wearing armor and running around with a sword. It was an extremely nice image. Then an even better image appeared, the weary knight being tended to by the queen’s handmaiden. Yeah, that was nice too...

“I don’t think you’re the only one who thinks that,” Cas said, once again disturbing Dean’s daydream. He was looking a Dean with a mischievous look that said he knew exactly what he had been thinking about and that the thought had crossed his mind too. Dean blushed at being caught. Charlie had noticed too and laughed as she swung her computer chair around and propped her feet on the desk.

“Oh yeah, that’s Dean’s happy daydream face,” she told Cas with an air of authority. “He was totally imagining you dressed in your sexy knight outfit, probably while sweeping the sweet innocent handmaiden off his feet.”

Cas nodded and tapped his stubble covered chin thoughtfully. “That idea does seem very appealing. I’ll have to look into it further.” He dropped his hand and turned to level a look at Dean that he could only describe as a leer. Damn that sexy bastard, he could make leering look hot.

Dean scowled at the dual teasing. “Okay, enough of the Dean-bashing. We’ll have to work out the LARP details later. Me and Cas have things to do today.” Dean handed back the marked list to Charlie, she would set up meetings for him to meet the potential clients he had picked and hopefully one would work out.

“Oh, I’ll bet you two have things to do,” his friend said, putting special emphasis on the last part of the sentence. This time it was Cas’ turn to blush, he looked pretty adorable with his cheeks tinged pink. They said goodbye to Charlie, Dean promised to take her to lunch some other time and they left to go home.

Dean suggested they pick up some lunch on the way back since it a little before noon. Cas pulled into a McDonald’s and Dean bought a whole bunch of cheeseburgers, despite Cas’ protest that he shouldn’t be eating that much fast food. Dean told him to stop worrying.

“You’ve been having a bad couple days, it’s totally acceptable to pig out on junk food,” he told Cas as they pulled away from the pickup window at the drive-thru. Cas rolled his eyes and muttered something about Dean and his food but Dean just laughed.

Finally they made it back and after they had stripped out of their shoes and jackets and dropped the food off in the kitchen, Dean made the executive decision that they were going to veg out in front of the TV in sweats for the day. Cas didn’t argue so they trooped upstairs to change.

“You know,” Dean said as he pulled on one of the many t-shirts he had squirreled around Cas’ room, “I don’t think I’ll ever forget my first day here when I walked in on you doing shirtless pull ups in here.”

Cas chuckled while he dug around in his dresser for a pair of sweats. “Since we’re seeing each other and all, I suppose I could safely tell you now that I wasn’t just working out to take a break from work. I was actually trying to burn off some of the sexual tension I was feeling. You looked so good in your business casual.”

“So basically you’re telling me that we were both simmering in unresolved sexual tension all day ever since I started working here,” Dean said smiling. He walked over to rest his hands on his boyfriend’s now sweatpant clad hips and drew him back so his bare back was pressed back against him and he could hook his chin over Cas’ shoulder.

“I guess so. I’m surprised neither of us spontaneously combusted,” Cas said in amusement as he pulled out a t-shirt. Dean could feel the rumble of his voice through his cheek from where it rest against Cas’ neck. They stood there for a few minutes, just enjoying being close until Cas’ stomach grumbled loudly. Dean chuckled and pressed a kiss to the other man’s shoulder before releasing him.

“Come on then, let’s get you fed,” he declared while Cas pulled on his shirt. 

They wandered down the stairs, dragging the blankets from the bed with them, and separated, Dean went to put the burgers onto plates and grab drinks while Cas took the blankets to the living room to construct a nest on the couch. Dean had come to learn that the Novaks nested like birds when given the option and he was surprised to find that the habit was rubbing off on him; the other day at his apartment, he found himself building his own blanket nest to watch his TV shows. 

Soon they were snuggled on the couch under the blankets, chowing down on burgers and watching crappy daytime TV since they had forgotten to pick a movie and they were both too lazy to get up and grab one. It was after they finished their lunch and settled themselves more comfortably on the couch, Dean lounging back against the arm of the sofa with Cas settled between his legs and leaning back against him, that Cas spoke.

“Thank you for today Dean,” he said softly, “I know I was fighting you about it earlier but I needed this.” He turned so he could meet Dean’s eyes. “You’re right, I have been scared that with Claire growing up some day I would be alone but I don’t think that now. I know that you’ll always be there for me.”

Dean’s chest filled with warmth at his boyfriend’s words and craned his neck so he could press a kiss to Cas’ mouth.

“You bet your ass I will be, for you and for Claire,” Dean replied just a softly, not wanting to break the moment. He paused for a minute, gearing up for what he wanted to say next as he cupped the other man’s face. “I really care about you Castiel, like a lot, and I might not be able to put it into words just yet but I hope that you can tell how I feel.” He brushed a thumb back and forth over Cas’ cheek and stared into those big blue eyes, hoping that Cas understood what he was trying to say. 

Cas smiled at him and nodded, pressing his cheek into Dean’s palm. “I think I understand what you’re trying to say and I feel the same.”

Dean grinned as he pulled Cas in for a passionate kiss. Cas chuckled lowly in his throat as they tried to maneuver themselves on the couch without separating. With a bit of wriggling and shuffling and a lot of giggling, they were eventually laid out on the couch with Cas nestled between Dean’s legs and Dean’s hands resting gently on Cas’ hips. They made out at an unhurried pace, trading kisses leisurely and taking breaks to breathe, resting their foreheads together and grinning at each other like idiots. They knew that they couldn’t really get into anything, it was too late in the afternoon for that, but that was okay. 

_This is good_ , Dean thought to himself as Cas kissed his way up and down his neck while he slipped his hands under Cas’ t-shirt and skimmed his hands over his boyfriend’s back, feeling the muscles shift. He thought that he wouldn’t mind doing this with Cas for the rest of his life.

All too soon, Dean had to push Cas away. After taking a glance at the living room clock, he confirmed his suspicions about the time. Cas seemed to know what he meant and sighed as he rested his head on Dean’s chest. They laid there, the sound of an afternoon talk show being the only thing to break the silence, just enjoying the moment.

“I suppose we had better get dressed,” Dean suggested, looking down at nest of unruly hair currently nestled on his chest. Cas nodded and started to get up. Once he was upright, he reached a hand down to pull Dean to his feet and they went upstairs to pull on their clothes from earlier that day before getting ready to leave. Cas pulled him in for one last kiss after they put on their shoes and jackets.

“Well, let’s go and pick up our girl,” Cas said with a grin. Dean smiled and followed him out of the house. Today had been a really really good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter seemed a bit long but I was on a roll and didn't want to stop. I figured you all wouldn't mind, it's chock full of the fluffy goodness I know you get a kick out of. :)


	29. Chapter 29

The next couple months went by at a quick pace which was somewhat bittersweet since they were some of the best couple of months that Castiel could remember. He had finally gotten over his hangups regarding Claire growing up, his little girl was so happy to be going to school and making friends and he and Dean’s relationship was settled into something solid and comforting. Not to say that the relationship had lost any of its excitement, Dean was extremely gifted at keeping him on his toes, but they had fallen into a set rhythm within their lives that was amazingly fulfilling. Everything in Castiel’s life was perfect. Well, nearly perfect; there was one thing that would make it perfect but it was also terrifying at the same time.

He desperately wanted to ask Dean to move in with him.

“I don’t know why you’re so freaked about this, Clarence,” Meg said as she flipped through the channels on the TV idly. She had come over for their weekly wine session and immediately sussed out that he was worried about something. Since Dean had taken Claire with him to visit Charlie, he had confessed his fears to Meg with little fuss. "The man practically lives here on the weekends.”

This was true; for the past two months, Dean had been sleeping over from Friday nights to Monday mornings. It had just sort of happened which suited Castiel just fine, waking up tangled up with his boyfriend for three mornings straight each week was, to borrow Dean's words, freaking awesome. Claire seemed to enjoy having Dean around as well, most likely since Dean tended to liven things up around the house and encouraged most of the various outings the three of them went on during the weekends now. And as great as all of this was, Castiel wanted more.

Castiel took another sip of his wine and rolled his eyes in protest, “He doesn’t practically live here, he just stays over on the weekends.” Meg scoffed and tossed aside the remote, having decided that there wasn’t anything worth watching, to level an incredulous look at him from her end of the sofa.

“So you mean to tell me that if I went up to your room right this minute, I wouldn’t find half the drawers full of clothes that aren’t yours, Dean’s shampoo in your bathroom and your second night table full of things that don’t belong to you?” Meg snarked back at him, an eyebrow raised in challenge. He knew it was very likely she would go upstairs and raid his room to make her point.

After a moment of this scrutiny, Castiel caved. He sighed in defeat as his placed his glass on the table so he could scrub at his face in frustration with both hands. Meg was watching him and waiting for an answer to the question, the question it was obvious she already knew the answer to.

“Okay, you’re right,” he responded grudgingly. “Dean does stay here quite often but it still feels like maybe it’s too early for me to ask if he wants to move in. We haven’t even been together for a year.”

He had been thinking about this for a while now ever since Dean mentioned he was trying to decide if he want to re-up on the lease on his apartment which would run out at the end of next month or rent a small house he had found. Castiel knew about his boyfriend’s desire to live in an actual house, Dean had told him about it one night when they were lying in bed tangled together, sweaty and exhausted from their previous activities. He knew that Dean hadn’t been dropping hints about moving in, he wasn’t that sort of person, but it had gotten him thinking just the same.

“It’s not like there is some government enforced relationship timeline you have to follow,” Meg said. “Besides, you two crazy kids are so disgustingly perfect for each other, I feel like I’m going to get diabetes just from knowing you so it’s not like you have to worry about it not working out” Castiel frowned at his friend’s exaggeration.

"I can't just walk up to him and say 'Hey, want to live with me even though we've only been dating for a few months?'" he argued. Once again Meg rolled her eyes at him. He was very tempted to tell her that if she kept that up her eyes might get stuck like that but refrained.

"Yeah, you can do that," Meg replied in a tone one would use to explain a simple concept to a child. "You just open your mouth so that words come out, that's how people ask other people simple questions."

Castiel shot an annoyed glare at her over his glass. "If we could stop with the 'Castiel, you are a simpleton' tone, that would be great," he grumbled at her before continuing, "And for your information, this isn't a simple question. This is a question that has ruined countless relationships over the history of mankind."

Meg snorted as she poured more wine into her glass then motioned for him to extend his out for the same treatment.

"Could you say that last bit again and add just a bit more drama? I didn't feel enough like I was watching a teenage drama on MTV," she drawled. Castiel mocked her response and pulled a face at her. "You're not helping your case by pouting Clarence," she argued smugly.

"I am not pouting, you're just being annoying," Castiel retorted, trying to keep his face decidedly out of a pouting expression. "Can we just change the subject please? I didn't invite you over here so you could tease me about my problems."

“Okay fine, you big whiner,” Meg said, “Guess where the big bosses want to send me this time?”

They spent the next hour discussing Meg’s new assignment, a vacation resort in Alaska which she claimed would be her doom. Castiel argued that being in the wilderness for a week wouldn’t kill her but she was adamant that being away from civilization, aka not being able to go clubbing, would cause her to lose her mind. 

It felt like no time had passed at all before they heard the front door click open followed by the pitter-pattering of little feet and Dean’s voice announcing the return of his boyfriend and daughter. 

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” Claire exclaimed as she ran into the room and over to him. “Guess what me, Charlie and Dean did today?”

Castiel took in his daughter’s appearance, which now included a paper crown and a set of gauzy wings that sparkled slightly in the sunlight that was steaming through the windows, and suspected that whatever his boyfriend and daughter had gotten up to with Charlie, dress up had to have been involved. Looking up at Dean he had planned to jokingly ask the other man for a hint but froze as he took in his appearance and promptly burst out laughing.

Dean too was decorated with a paper crown, one that was noticeably less grand than Claire’s, and a set of glittery wings that looked comically small on the man’s muscular frame but it was one difference in their outfits that had Castiel and, a split second later, Meg howling with laughter. 

Dean’s face was liberally slathered in makeup that was obviously applied by someone who was....less than skilled.

He had bright blue eye-shadow coating the area around his eyes so it looked like he had some sort of domino mask on, blindingly pink blush circles on his cheeks and a shaking circle of red lipstick around his mouth. The look was really pulled together by what looked like some sort of body glitter that was generously coating his face and neck.

It took a monumental effort to gain his composure so he could answer Claire’s question; Meg had taken to laughing silently while clutching her stomach. A few seconds passed as Castiel tried to breath, an effort that was not helped by the quite frankly hilarious pout on Dean’s spectacularly decorated face.

“Well Claire, I just can’t seem to guess what you and Dean got up to today, why don’t you tell me?” His voice was strained from trying not to laugh. Dean shot him a glare which very nearly broke his hold on his composure.

“Charlie asked if I wanted to play princesses with her and so we got to play dress up but Charlie said Dean looked left out so I asked if he could play too and Charlie said yes!” Claire explained excitedly, waving her hands in the air, “And, Charlie let me put makeup on her and Dean!”

Castiel gasped in mock surprise before looking at Dean, who had moved to stand next to where he was sitting on the couch, arms crossed across his chest. “Is this true Dean?” 

“Why yes it is Cas,” Dean said with an impressively upbeat tone that paired oddly with the grimace-like smile he gave Castiel. “And I think that I look amazing. Thank you Claire.” He smiled down at the slightly disheveled fairy princess and smiled fondly, it warmed Castiel’s heart to see how much Dean cared for his daughter even when it was a hit to his macho image.

Meg had finally gotten herself under control and sat back up on the sofa. “That is a pretty sweet makeup job, what do you say we have a sleepover at my house tonight and you can make me look beautiful too?” she said, shooting a sly look at the two men at the end of the couch.

“Yeah!,” Claire shouted enthusiastically, running towards the stairs. “I’m gonna go get my jammies!”

Once she disappeared up the stairs, Castiel glared at his friend. She just cocked an eyebrow, challenging him to argue. He had the inklings of an idea as to what the woman was up to and was not happy about her meddling, especially when she employed his unsuspecting child against him. He opened his mouth to start listing all the reason she had stepped over the line and why Claire was staying home.

“Don’t start with me Clarence,” she told him, knowing exactly where his mind was going. “I’m stealing your rugrat for the night since I’m going to leaving for that Alaska thing next week.” Castiel continued to glare at her.

Dean seemed to sense the not so subtle tension between them and excused himself; muttering something about helping Claire with her overnight things, he disappeared up the stairs, still wearing his sparkling wings and crown. 

“You know I don’t like it when you just tell Claire she can come over to your house without consulting me first,” Castiel whispered grumpily, mindful of the little ears that might turn up at any second.

“Well, boo-hoo and too bad, buddy,” Meg whispered back mockingly. She walked over to the kitchen table to put their glasses and the half full bottle of wine down and grab her bag. “You and lover boy deserve an evening to yourselves and it will give you an opportunity to grow back the balls that I know for a fact you used to have and ask him to move in.”

Castiel sputtered indignantly at this but before he could start his counterargument, Dean and Claire came back down the stairs. Dean was holding a small blue backpack and Claire’s favorite bumblebee blanket while she had her little arms curled around one of her stuffed animals. Claire announced that she was ready to leave.

In what felt like the time it took him to blink, Castiel found himself alone in the foyer with Dean after kissing Claire goodbye. He was still pissed that Meg would meddle with his affairs but honestly he really should expect this sort of thing by now. There was nothing else to do but to get over his annoyance at his best friend and enjoy the opportunity to be alone with his boyfriend. It’s not like Meg could force him to ask Dean about moving in.

“Well, I would kiss you,” Dean said conversationally while fumbling his way out of the wings, “But I don’t think you would appreciate sharing my fabulous shade of lipstick.”

Castiel’s suppressed mirth from later decided to rear its head again and he burst out laughing. Dean scowled half-heartedly at him and turned to leave, most likely to clean himself off, but Castiel reached out to snag him by shirt.

“I suppose it is pretty fabulous, maybe it’ll go well with my complexion,” he murmured playfully before pulling Dean in for a kiss.

 

Several hours and a joint glitter removal shower later found them sprawled out on the couch, their favorite place to relax on the evenings alone, well besides the bedroom that is. They had called out for chinese takeout since they were both feeling a bit lazy and didn’t want to cook and, after the food arrived, had stripped down to their t-shirts and boxers before retiring to the couch to eat and watch tv.

Dean was currently tucked into the corner of the couch, leaning against the armrest, while Castiel was snuggled into his side; they had forgone the usual blanket since it was pretty warm in the house. The end credits were crawling across the screen but neither of them moved. Dean heaved a sigh and rubbed a hand up and down Castiel’s arm; Castiel relaxed even further into the other man’s side, if that were even possible. They sat there in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other’s presence. 

It was then, entangled with the man that he had fallen for almost a year ago, the man who took such care with his daughter and the man who brightened his life whenever he was around, that Castiel made his decision. He turned his head so he could look up at Dean.

“Move in with me Dean,” Castiel said softly. Dean’s greens eyes widened and darted downwards to fix on his. They stared at each other for what felt like minutes but was actually only seconds.

“Wait, what?” Dean asked, his tone disbelieving and, Castiel prayed that he was interpreting correctly, hopeful.

Castiel gathered his nerves in an attempt to ‘grow a pair’ as Meg would say. He could do this.

“I want you to move in with me,” he said in a surprisingly calm voice considering how much panicking was actually going on in his head. Castiel shifted himself and Dean so they were sitting side by side and looked into his boyfriend’s eyes. “I know that we haven’t been together for too long but I’ve come to realize that I’m selfish; I don’t want you to be around on the just weekends, I want you to be around all the time because...I love you.”

That was one more confession than Castiel had been expecting but somehow he knew that it was time to say how he felt. He held his breath, waiting for the other man’s response.

Dean’s face broke into a huge grin, “I love you too Cas and yes, of course I’ll move in with you.” He leaned over to plaster a kiss on Castiel’s smiling mouth. Kissing while grinning like a pair of idiots turned out to be a tricky task but they gave it their best efforts. When they finally broke apart they were still smiling brightly at each other; Dean raised a hand to Castiel’s face and brushed over his cheekbone with his thumb. 

“What do you say we go up to our room and celebrate?” Dean whispered huskily, causing a shiver to go down Castiel’s spine.

In response, Castiel grasped his boyfriend’s hand and pulled him towards the stairs. Dean chuckled at his enthusiasm and Castiel joined him.

 

Later, while they lay in bed and drifting off after exhausting themselves celebrating their new living arrangement, Castiel mused on how different his life was a year ago. In one short year, he had gone from a lonely single dad with a beautiful daughter who was in way over his head and nanny-less to a happy man with a beautiful daughter and a boyfriend who not only loves him but loves his little girl. He sighed in contentment and wrapped his arms tightly around the man that was currently sprawled across his chest.

He may not have seen any of this occurring a year ago but Castiel wouldn’t have changed any of it for the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it, the end. :) I have to say this has been an extremely fun story to write and, as I just noticed, one of the longest things I have written. I feel like I could have gone on and on with this but at the same time I think this was a good place to leave this little family. 
> 
> I want to thank all of you who have read this and a special thank you to all of you who have commented. I know I'm not very good at the whole responding-to-comments-thing (I'm a bit shy and anxious about that sort of thing, I'll try to be better in the future) but I want you to know that they are extremely encouraging.
> 
> Finally, since there is a part of me that doesn't want to stop with this little universe, if there is any sort of snapshot or scene you would really really like to see but I didn't cover, leave a comment and I'll do my best to deliver. :)


End file.
